#i only mentioned the whole deal thing in passing as context

[jesncin]

Re: the whole Si Spurrier Bi/Pan Johnstantine debacle thing

For context, Spurrier (the writer of the current Hellblazer run) explicitly had John self identify as pansexual in narration despite John being canonically bisexual. The cover of the issue (I believe this was the artist's intention, but can't confirm) also evoked the bi flag colors in its colorscheme. When asked about this on twidder, Spurrier doubled down (paraphrasing: "John shouldn't have any queer label, he's bad representation"), deleted tweets, and just left fans in a mess.

My tldr take: John Constantine is bisexual. Spurrier didn't and doesn't know the difference between bi and pan, mixed them up and spouted respectability nonsense to cover himself. He's an old man who doesn't fyuck with gay people, simply. I don't think he has deep seated hatred for the bi community or anything. He made a mistake (still a bad one) and didn't apologize for it. Shame this is the author spearheading such a prominent queer character.

The long take:

I see a lot of people bringing up modern media that reaffirms John's bisexuality but I believe it's important to look at the historical context.

John Constantine in his original Vertigo Hellblazer run was an inherently counter-culture character. A working class guy growing up in the punk scene, aligning himself with queer people, explicitly ACAB, a rebuttal to the classic Superhero tropes, etc. It's only fitting that Constantine's bisexuality was revealed in a similarly counter-culture manner. Under guest writer John Smith (and artist Sean Phillips and colorist Tom Zuiko), John just casually mentions having "the odd boyfriend" in passing narration about his struggles with commitment. This may not seem like a big deal with today's standards, but it's important to recognize that this issue came out in 1992. Hellblazer already had a handful of queer characters at this point and suddenly after years of queer coding, the main character just reveals his bisexuality in passing.

So that's the historical context in our comics world, how about within the canon of Hellblazer? Well, John was born in 1953 in Liverpool, meaning he was a teen in the 60s, formed and toured with Mucous Membrane all over the UK but mostly London during the 70s (as a young man in his 20s). When we cross reference that with what's going on in the UK queer scene at this time, it's no wonder why John is presumed to be bisexual.

[From Stonewall UK]

In the same article, Stonewall mentions that the term "pansexual" became popular in the 90s. While this aligns with when issue #51 reveals Constantine's "odd boyfriend" comment, it's clear that the term "bisexual" would be the term Constantine grew up with during his formative years. While this distinction might seem unnecessary or even arbitrary to some people, these identities do matter in their nuance and historical context. Identities and histories are not interchangeable after all. With all this context in mind, to me, John Constantine will always be bisexual.

To Spurrier's comment on "John Constantine shouldn't have any label anyway, he's bad representation/role model for any identity" (paraphrasing, I know he probably said this in a defensive moment since if he truly believed this then he wouldn't have explicitly had Constantine refer to himself as pansexual in Dead in America #7), I think using respectability in defense of a character as counter-culture as Constantine is a demonstrable example of Missing The Dang Point.

[from Nerdist article written by Jules Greene]

Spurrier, the gays like John Constantine especially in his og Hellblazer run because he wasn't a walking Pride ad. We like that he's a mess. We like that he's working class. We like that he's messed up and painfully human. If you don't understand that about Constantine, then you fundamentally misunderstand why people find him so appealing to begin with.

[kafus]

as the resident ceo of likodot, what are your thoughts on the scene in episode 9 where dot ends up being the one who gives liko the courage she needs to tell her father that she wants to continue traveling with the RVT?

AH YES. THIS SCENE. I HAVE MANY THOUGHTS. THANK U FOR ASKING. apologies if this post is messy i have brainfog but i wanted to answer it anywayyyy

dot and liko's early connection is pretty interesting to me because at the time of this episode, the two barely know each other. dot first appears in episode 7 and this happens a couple episodes later in episode 9... not a lot of time has passed.

at this point in episode 9, liko knows that dot:

is murdock's niece and around the same age as her

is a tech wiz who wrote the app the RVT use to maintain the brave asagi and talk to each other

is good at gathering info online too

is a social recluse

does not eat very well/doesn't eat with other people

is interested in legendary pokemon, mysteries, that sort of stuff

and of course, she has heard the gurumin theme song coming from dot's room, and seen her quaxly, which leads to the iconic misunderstanding that dot is a huge fan of gurumin and not... literally gurumin lol

on the other hand, liko has no idea what dot looks like, does not know anything about her history, and has not had a proper conversation with her - their only communications have been through her bedroom door, first through quaxly bringing her and roy notes (which are drawings to interpret and not even actual written words), then when dot yells angrily at her to shut up/go away because she's interrupting dot setting up for her livestream, and then when dot finally budges just enough to mention her interest in legendaries & mysterious things.

by all regards dot is probably more of a concept to liko at this point than a whole person; a disembodied sometimes-voice who belongs to someone that deserves to be reached out to, but who hasn't actually been reached yet. this is overtly clear with her misunderstanding about dot being a gurumin fan - liko is piecing together who she thinks dot is with very little context clues and actual interactions and she is literally drawing the wrong conclusions lol. at most right now liko is interested in dot because of the whole gurumin thing... and because she's just a compassionate person who can't imagine that the person behind that door is a bad one, or someone who should be ignored, so she's compelled to learn more and reach out and figure dot out.

and that's the thing. liko is just naturally the sort of person to want to go out of her way to reach out to dot despite knowing pretty much nothing about her personally, and even having their first couple of interactions be rude ones. she follows through - she takes dot's lunch to her, makes sure to say "i'll talk to you later" and thank her for things, in a way that roy isn't (not to say that roy doesn't care, but liko is focused on her in particular). sure, the idea that they have a mutual interest in gurumin definitely helps, but she was interested before that and wasn't thrown off by her rude drawing of roy losing to fuecoco even before she started associating dot with gurumin. and this, especially coming from a peer and not a worried adult, is certainly foreign to dot and she kind of doesn't know how to deal with it, but it means a lot to her.

^ i think this bit at the end of episode 8 after liko and roy walk away is a really good summary of how dot is about all of this. she's reclusive, doesn't like noise, likes being in her own space, and she's "supposed" to find people like roy and liko irritating... but she can't help but smile about them being around, and while thinking about them.

oh, and of course dot has been overwhelmed by liko's compliments towards her work as gurumin even though liko doesn't know that's who she's complimenting. she's a popular youtuber and i'm sure she gets compliments from people all the time, but this is definitely a foreign experience for her in person, coming from someone verbally like that, not to mention how genuine and passionate liko is about it. i mean it makes her blush like this okay come on:

ALL OF THIS is to say that liko is a meaningful person to dot at this point, despite how little liko actually knows about her. liko has reached out to her in a way that no one has before, has directly complimented her work/passion, and has responded to her rudeness/antisocial behavior with even more curiosity instead of shying away.

so like of course when it's possible that liko is going to leave, she's upset about it and wants to do something about it. this is such a new situation and she's still so reclusive that she needs a little push from landau (who knows her well enough to tell she has emotions about this despite her not exactly wearing them on her sleeve), but the feelings she has about liko are enough to push her through, just enough to leave a wordless drawing by her door, which is massive for her at this point in time.

liko's response to this is understandably not super expressive or emotional, and in fact right after seeing the drawing, she first has a far more emotive conversation with mollie and orio and then roy, before eventually taking the drawing with her to dot's door and thanking her. she still doesn't know dot that well and honestly even though she was thinking that dot was opening up a little bit, she probably didn't expect this gesture. she doesn't know how meaningful her reaching out to dot has actually been.

regardless, she understands the meaning of the drawing and once again goes to talk to her, even without expecting a response back, and is able to go leave and tell her dad she wants to stay on the brave asagi, so it obviously contributed to her courage. it's proof that even this person who she barely knows cares about her and wants her to stay, and it also rewards her efforts of reaching out and proves to her that yes, dot is opening up and receiving liko's attempts at reaching out - her advances aren't unwanted. how's she supposed to leave now that she's sunk this time and effort into connecting with dot? dot is not the only reason she wants to stay of course, but it's a piece of the puzzle. she can't just leave now that they've made this connection successfully!!

dot says this after liko's already left, but regardless they've made a connection in their own unique, nonverbal way, and of course everything between them continues to grow from here.

so anyway all of this is to say i think it's fascinating the way these two connect mostly without words and through action/gesture at the start of the series, and i think the lopsidedness of their connection with each other is actually pretty interesting and reveals how much liko's compassion and efforts affect dot early on. she really is the vessel through which dot comes out of her shell and that's evident from the beginning

ALSO as an aside, very cute that dot does these little doodles at all? they aren't bad!! liko also draws... even though dot doesn't seem to take it as seriously or have it as an actual hobby i think they should draw together i think this would be cute JIOSJDOF

[babyboywinchester]

i’m watching supernatural for the first time. i’m on season 3 right now, but i’m not that excited for castiel that comes in season 4, just mainly because misha collins gives me the ick. like calling the CW homophobic because dean and castiel didn’t get together is already weird because like why is he so hung up about it?? i know it has a lot to do with his fan base, but normal actors don’t really interact with their fans like that, like why is he leading them on for a show that ended four years ago?! also i know he’s probably done a lot of bad things but saying the f-slur when he had to clarify he’s straight is wrong. also him saying the slur in the context of gay people needing to reclaim it was so bizarre to me, like dude stop saying it?! he just gives me the ick big time with all that.

also sorry this was so long.

No need to apologize, dear one! I love getting asks or talking so fear not.

I’m excited the hear about you starting Supernatural! I loved the first three seasons. My sister and I started watching it back in the fall of 2012 when I was a senior in high school. It was so exciting and we couldn’t wait to watch as many episodes after school as we could. Anyway, the magic wore off after we got all caught up and were able to watch season 9 as it aired and I became more involved in the fandom side on tumblr… destiel was EVERYWHERE and as someone who was realizing they were a wincest shipper… that made it all that much worse.

Luckily, I have found that the Destiel screechy circle are but a VERY small minority. Thank GOD… but oh are they loud. That ties in to Misha of course. You know the signs they have in places that say stuff like “don’t feed the animals.”? Yeah, those are for people like himself who insist on baiting and egging on these mentally unwell people into believing, and filling his pockets, because it saves him the trouble of having to get a job or actually work on making changes himself.

So, the whole balls deep thing? Real bold of him to say at a convention where Jensen wasn’t present when Jensen himself, numerous times, has mentioned he does not like Destiel. Also bold of Misha seeing as he’s unemployed and the CW was the place that gave him his longest running job… that’s also called defamation and if I were the CW I would send a cease and desist letter. He’s emboldened by these people who worship the ground he walks on because they fetishize one gay ship. He takes them for the rubes they are and milks money from them by just regurgitating the same shit they pass around to each other in their little bubbles. I’m sure you’ve come across them… so I won’t even mention some of their names here as I don’t have the time or patience to deal with their lot.

Yes, bold of a man to use the word “f-g” when he had to walk back coming out as bisexual and come out as straight. He’s learned nothing. He’s also just gross, crass, and all around an unpleasant person. He knows this is his only way to stay relevant and so he’s going to milk it until it’s dry.

Fear not you are NOT the only one who can’t stand him or Castiel. Luckily, regardless of what the hellers say, he doesn’t add much to the story and his “arcs” can be completely ignored and it doesn’t take away from the story any.

Thanks for the ask! I hope you’ll send more as you continue watching the show!

[anisecandy]

So apparently there's another radiostatic week going on, and while I can't participate, I thought I might at least share the beginning of a wip that I hope to finish once I'll be done with my thesis~ (≧∇≦)ﾉ This part of it is sfw! But the whole thing will be like "5 times Alastor and Vox failed at sex (and one time they didn't)" lol. Silly and hopefully a little sexy. Boundaries, compromises, that kinda stuff. Kink. Gore. Being lovely-dovely.

They didn't indulge often in the classic format of dinner dates, but Alastor supposed those too had their charm, once in a while. As fun as it was to dance a night away at a respectable speakeasy, he enjoyed himself today, to the point of not even noticing when three hours of nothing but talking passed. When Vox walked him to the hotel, the sky had a deep crimson color of dry blood; if they weren't in Hell, Alastor would expect to see first stars appear. They would have reached it earlier if they just teleported there, but he found himself not minding the distance between the hotel and the uptown, even though it was more than twice the length of his daily strolls. They didn't hold hands — Alastor believed such displays were quite unbecoming for an Overlord — but their shoulders stayed flushed together almost the entire time.

"I had a lot of fun today," Vox said with a sheepish smile, once they were at the doors of the hotel.

The usually grotesque grin on Alastor's face was already morphed into something much more natural, but now it became particularly soft.

"So did I."

"Do you think you'll be able to make some time next week? I could get the tickets to that musical you mentioned. There's no way I haven't worked with the director or at least some of their actors before."

He hummed thoughtfully.

"I need to make an inventory of the hotel. But I should be done by Wednesday."

Vox snickered, before clearing his throat and nodding.

"Okay, great."

Alastor raised an eyebrow, not getting the joke.

"What has you so amused, my dear?"

"Nothing, it's just that I have a hard time imagining you dealing with something as ordianry paperwork. The closest I can get is you making the notes with some poor fucker's broken femur."

With his usual dramatic flare, Alastor pressed a hand to his chest.

"You wound me, mon cher. I would never waste good bone marrow like that!"

While Vox laughed, he blindly felt around for the doorknob somewhere behind his back. Watching his partner's bright expressions made his dry, dead heart warm up. He didn't want to look away from him yet. Still, it was quite a late hour, and while he needed very little sleep, the same couldn't be said about Vox who, to boost, woke up early every day to tend to his company.

"As lovely as tonight was, I shouldn't be holding you up any longer," he said opening the door and taking a step back, seizing him up with a last fond glance. "Goodnight, darling."

He was about to slip inside the yellow crack of light seeping from the hotel, but a hand tentatively grabbing barely more than tips of his fingers stopped him in his tracks.

"Wait, Al, before you go-"

"Yes?" He tilted his head to the side and Vox smiled nervously.

"Could I kiss you?"

His gaze grew alarmed when Alastor slid his hand away from his grasp. But he only did so to hold his hand properly, upon realizing which Vox relaxed a little.

"You may."

Of course, the one doing the kissing, once Vox closed the distance between them, was Alastor. Unless he opened his mouth, Vox's face was nothing more than a flat display. Alastor proffered it that way, though. Standard human lips, he believed, were too meaty, too wet. Disgusting, to be frank, in any context besides culinary. This, on the other hand, was nice. Sparkles passed between them and he knew his lips were going to tingle all the way to his room on the /6th/ floor. Yes, he thought, quite nice indeed.

Finally, with a squeeze to his hand and dumb, lovestrucken, endearing grin Vox stepped away.

"Goodnight,liebling," he murmured.

Alastor watched him go for a while, offering a fond shake of the head and a wave when he glanced back. Eventually Vox reached the bottom of the hill on which the hotel stood and he retreated inside, humming a little melody that couldn't decide what song it wanted to be — something by Alex Hill? Or perhaps Earl Hines? Either way, it stopped when he noticed Angel Dust and Husk at the bar.

Seeing the two sinners surprised him. It wasn't so late that it would be strange for them to still be up (although the princess did try to implement a half-baked curfew after which the bar was supposed to close), but it wasn't often that Angel could be seen and not heard. Especially when he was around Alastor's thrall. Still, as much as he felt uncomfortable with being potentially seen in a compromising situation, he didn't let it show. Snapping his fingers, he manifested a hat, which he then jokingly tipped at the pair.

"Gentlemen," he said lightly, and tossed the hat on the coat hanger, only for it to disappear in a flash of green light. A small part of him realized that he might be just a little tipsy from the wine he drank with the dinner. Just a little though.

"Uhhh, hi Smiles," Angel replied. Husk just grunted, acknowledging his presence, but not even looking up from the glasses he was polishing.

He paid them no mind and passed the lobby through his shadows. While he could have traveled all the way to his room, he opted to walk instead. The time it took to get to it on foot was about the same as the time it took to reach the closest surveillance camera. This way, Vox would call him to wish him goodnight once more like he did every day when Alastor would be just about to lay down to bed. It was a quite silly thing to plan for and he'd be utterly mortified if anybody somehow learned about it. But at the moment he didn't even feel that embarrassed, too busy enjoying the warmth filling his chest and electricity dancing on his lips.

He was just above the mezzanines when his ears caught the conversation between Angel and Husk starting anew.

"Well, so that was fuckin' weird."

His fangs grated against each other.

One moment he stood on the stairs. The next, the shadows bloomed from the ground next to the bar, like a rotten flower. His head spun like a wing of a windmill with the momentum of being pushed upward. When he leaned into Angel's personal space his chin was in the pace of his forehead and his smile turned into a loathsome scowl.

"Care to elaborate?"

The spider demon let out a high pitch curse, reflectively pushing himself as far from Alastor as possible. Unfortunately the bar stool was too small to accommodate him and he crashed to the ground. Pleased with himself, Alastor straightened up and twisted his head back into place. From the corner of an eye he could see Husk scoffing at his theatrics. Truly, that man needed to learn to enjoying the small joys of life.

"Shit, you gave me a heart attack there!" Angel gasped, climbing back on his seat. "And, real talk, what is the matter with the "Exorcist" bullshit your neck keeps doing? No fucking way there's a type of deer who can pull that off."

Alastor clicked his tongue. The Hazbin Hotel residents became way too used to his presence. While he still managed to get a raise out of them, the initial shock seemed to last shorter with each day. Maybe he should disappear for a while or two. Lull them into a false sense of security, only to reappear covered in bloody and surrounded by moppets and clouds of coffin stench. Or maybe he should just start storing his kills in the communal fridge. Either way, he didn't appreciate being treated like nothing more than a human scare chord.

"I asked you a question, my good fellow," he said dryly.

To his utter disbelief, Angel dismissed him with a wave of a hand.

"Eh, don't worry 'bout it."

His upper lip flared up, showing some of his gums and a low rumble began growing in his chest. But before it changed into a growl, Husk slammed a glass between the two of them. Angel jumped and while Alastor had much more control over his reaction, he still flinched just barely.

"Whiskey on the rocks for you, Al," Husk said, and pushed it toward him, maintaining the eyes contact. "I thought you might want a drink before going to bed." He stressed the last word and Alastor had to stop himself from chuckling. What an adorably failed attempt at diplomacy.

Angel seemed confused for a moment. Then, he noticed Husk's bristled fur and reached to pet his hand reassuringly. He turned to Alastor, spreading his upper arms a little.

"Seriously, it's nothin’. It's just that it's, well, weird as fuck to see Vox act all, like, gentlemanly and shit with ya."

That made Alastor frown a little.

"My dear, I know Hell's standards are quite low but as fond as I am of him, he's hardly a gentleman of any kind."

"No, I mean- Like walkin' ya here and then fucking off? Him and Val were always in each other's pants so you just kissing like two preschoolers gives me- the- yanno-" He snapped his fingers a few times. "The thing when somethin' feels wrong? Cognitive bias?"

"Cognitive dissonance," Husk grumbled.

Angel slapped the counter top.

"Yeah! That's the bitch!"

The mention of that repulsive moth soured all that was left of Alastor's good mood. He was aware of course that before they got together Vox wasn't exactly celibate, to put it lightly. For the most part, he didn't mind all that much. Whatever partners he had were most likely long dead or at the very least out of both Alastor's sight and mind. The same couldn't be said about Valentino. The pimp, being both Vox's friend and business partner and Angel's employer was a small, but persistent part of Alastor's life. Sometimes when they were both present at Overlord meetings he even dared to strike up conversations! Alastor had to exercise all of his willpower to remain composed in face of his vulgar, intrusive jokes and questions regarding Vox's and his relationship. It was incredibly unfair of Vox to forbid him killing Valentino. Alastor was certain him and that young lady he was in alliance with would manage just fine without that deviant. But alas, he was a good partner and respected Vox's wishes. Even if it meant having to suffer though reminders about what Vox used to be doing and with whom that stimulated both the imagination and the gag relfex. Plus, he didn't like having to share Vox's attention with another man. Especially one so flirtatious and sexually aggressive. Not that he believed Vox to be unfaithful, of course not, but it wasn't Vox that Alastor didn't trust.

His smile turned strained, which didn't escape Angel. However, he read his change of expression differently to what was actually going through Alastor's head.

"Hey, don't stress over it," he said, to Alastor's surprise trying to sound... Reassuring? "Doubt he's gonna ditch ya just 'cause ya won't have sex with him. I mean, if he was gonna to get back to Val, he'd done it long ago. They never stayed broken up for more than like two weeks before."

Alastor stared at him for a moment. Then, he burst into laughter.

"Oh dear, did you really think I'd worry about something like that? And because of that distasteful bug no less?" He shook his head and grabbed the drink Husk made for him. He drank it in one swig and pushed the glass over the counter for him to take. "Well, that truly wasn't worth wasting my time on. I should get going. Tomorrow is going to be a lot of work! Remember to have a list of the items for restocking prepared, old pal. Toodle-loo!"

He melted into the shadows before either of the two Sinners could get a word in.

When he appeared in his room, he started pacing around, not even bothering to turn the light on. It flickered to life anyway, courtesy of his shadow. Alastor didn't even notice it.

"Ridiculous," he huffed under his breath. "Me! Replaced by that fils de garce! That cheap whore! Who wouldn't even be an Overlord if it wasn't for Vox! Il vas foutrement pas fait ça—"

He took a deep breath.

He cleared his throat and forced his ears back up. Losing his temper like that should be below a man of his status. Especially over a low-life like Valentino. He let the shadow slip off his coat and hang it by the door and untied his bow. Beside, Vox would rather publicly disband his entire mega corporation than break up with Alastor out of his own volition. He was desperately and shamelessly obsessed with him. He chased after him for years and years and years. After all, Alastor was the only thing that he couldn't control, couldn't kill and couldn't have. Of course he'd be obsessed with him.

That thought made him pause. Because that was before, wasn't it? Now Vox "had" Alastor. When the novelty of it would wear off, would he in his endless greed again turn his eyes to the things he couldn't have? Things Alastor couldn't give him?

This was ridiculous. He must have been more drunk than he thought to allow himself such inane thoughts. That's right, he was simply drunk and tired. A good night rest — that's all he needed.

For the first time in months he didn't look forward to receiving a call from Vox. Suddenly he didn't feel like talking at all. But perhaps he wouldn't have to. The nighttime calls were always very short, barely fitting in entire sentences. So there was nothing to worry about. He would repeat his goodnight, and tomorrow he would wake up to the cold, slimy sensation at the pit of his stomach gone.

Simple as that.

[aniimoni]

Your oc lore sounds fucked up. Tell me more about that and worshipping issue i'd love 2 know

YEAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSBSBHDHDH sorry I am so deprived 🛐🛐🛐

No they don’t have a name yet, someone give me ideas, there’s another drawing (with both of them) here. The one with red hair is named Genevive (it’s spelt like that because i’m unique and cool obv)

Ok so basically:

They exist in a world where there is 1 main god, which is constantly referred to as “Him” “He” “The Creator”.

The one with black hair (this is her human form) is the god of the ocean.

The one with red hair is a general, who is the predecessor from a line of other generals. These generals are tasked to lead the army of this city in order to protect it (among other mundane things, like community service). It’s kind of like “passing the torch” in a way.

Everyone is raised to worship the god who created everything (wether out of fear or love). He has a major ego, is very picky, and passive aggressive (or sometimes downright aggressive in a very messed up way).

In a summary: Genevive is not super up for worshipping Him. She is pretty fond of the ocean, so yknow..

One day Genevive actually gets to meet the god of the ocean by surprise. And so, long story short: She will do anything and everything to make them happy. The god themselves knows it’s pretty messed up and against the rules, but sometimes they can’t help but entertain the idea.

They grow close and learn to love each other in a much more healthy way than I previously mentioned. However, He has taken notice of their relationship, and sees it as “worshipping” (kind of late to the party lmao). He is VERY pissed, and decides to try and negotiate with (manipulate) both of them. The god of the ocean is much more lenient, and agrees to try and avoid Genevive in an effort to protect her. BUT Genevive isn’t guying His bs, she basically tells Him to go screw Himself.

There are 2 scenarios I have in mind in which He takes His “revenge”

1) He leads her into a cave and slowly makes her lose her mind until she passes away

2) He finds her in the battlefield and kills her

But in both, He wouldn’t only be killing her, He would be ripping her soul away so she wouldn’t even be able to pass onto the afterlife. Keeping her trapped in His domain. He also chains the god of the ocean to keep them under His watch.

Either way, the other god finds out, and feels extremely guilty, blaming themselves for leading Genevive to her downfall. They hold a lot of anger towards Him, but they can’t do much since they’re chained, so their power is very limited. They can leave the ocean, but only in their human form, which also has very limited power.

I still can’t decide if that’s where I want it to end. But I had the idea that a hundred years later or so, some other mortal finds the god of the ocean and makes a deal with them in light of their common ground: getting revenge on the god of creation.

A funny fact actually, I was very much obsessed with these 2 and their story before getting into cotl, I think I’m seeing a pattern here. Anyway, love my lesbians. AND THANK YOU SM FOR ASKING I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR SO LONG FOR SOMEONE TO ASK!!! Sorry I kinda gave you the whole plot there, but it was sort of needed for context and yadada

[achitka]

Day Seven: Storm

Do you really need context? Just asking for a friend... and there is none actually

Day Seven: Storm

“So, Pepa, why are we all up here?” Julieta asked as she too looked up into the tree.

Pepa sighed and turned away as she replied, “Fog.”

Her siblings looked at one another and Bruno said, “As I recall, Pep, that never went well.”

“I know that, but I want to try again. Mamá is set on retrieving those kids tonight, so we’re gonna need some kind of cover and a storm would just be dangerous.”

“Oh, so you mean that fog,” Bruno said, sounding a little more nervous than he was when he’d gotten there.

“Okay,” Julieta said, “Don’t do anything, I’ll be right back.”

“You don’t have... to…” Pepa trailed off as her sister stepped out of view back into the tower.

“You know she always wants to be prepared, Pep,” Bruno said as his eyes wandered up to the dark cloud forming over her head.

Pepa nodded, and the cloud winked out of sight. She probably should have told Julieta what she was thinking, but she was almost afraid she wouldn’t come. That was ridiculous because Juli was always there for them.

When Bruno vanished after Mirabel’s failed Gift ceremony, they all knew that their mother would beg Bruno to do a vision, maybe see what it meant. Julieta was concerned, but Bruno had gotten into the habit of going missing for weeks sometimes. His door had been wavering a lot, but still Bruno always came back, and each time their mother would chastise him. And each time it would affect Bruno a little less. When he did not come out of his tower the following day for meals or anything, Julieta went to the tower stairs and could see the magical glow had left his door. Juli confided to Pepa once after he’d been missing for more than a week that he was getting up the courage to leave completely. After several days, she and Julieta made the long journey up those stairs, only to find the rope bridge had been cut. He really was gone this time, and they both cried for a long time as they sat on that ledge most of the day, looking at the door to that vision cave.

Pepa realized now what she had not back then. Just like Dolores, Juli always knew that Bruno was nearby and was choosing to be apart from them. This was something Bruno often said would happen one day. She also couldn’t tell Pepa because their Mamá now saw Pepa as the difficult one. Pepa also knew she would have likely outed her brother, as she was forced now to find ways to placate their mother. Though Julieta was saddened by the fact that Pepa went along with the whole not talking about Bruno thing, she did not judge.

Julieta, however, continued to mention their brother, though it was always in passing. As if to remind their mother that wherever he was, he was probably happier. That had led to Pepa’s senseless anger at the mere mention of his name, how dare he leave her here to deal with their mother alone. But of course, she was never really alone, Julieta made sure to remind her of that whenever the opportunity arose. Félix was her joy. He had given her three perfect children. So, it wasn’t until the house fell, and their mother returned with both Mirabel and Bruno, she felt the first pangs of regret.

What’s the first thing Bruno said to her after ten years in the walls? An apology for her overly wet wedding day. That meant he heard everything she'd said to Mirabel as she and her family tried to reinforce the no talking about Bruno rule.

Pepa looked over at her brother, he’d moved closer to the edge of the glade and was once again looking out over the town. Was he always that tiny? She walked to the edge of the glade, put an arm around him giving him a gentle squeeze. Bruno quirked a smile, and together they stood silently waiting for their sister to reappear.

[performativezippers]

For your writing advice series: how much character backstory is too much? Too little? How do you balance that in a fic and in your books? I always struggle with this.

Great question!

Note: I'm going to primarily answer this for characters that the audience/POV character don't know, so whether that's an OC or you're writing a fic that wants to be accessible to people outside of the fandom. The simple reason for this is that if you assume all readers and characters have all the canon context for everyone's backstories, then you won't be dealing with this very much, if at all.

One thing I think about a lot is that when your POV character is meeting someone new, they will know NOTHING about them. Backstory trickles out of people very slowly, and in an order that doesn't make sense. For example: I made new friends when I moved to where I live now about 4 years ago, and we've been super close for at least 3 years. Here are things I learned about them and how:

M - I found out about a year into our friendship that her mom died when she was a kid. I learned this via her telling a story about how someone was reading her palm and freaked out when they had to tell her one of her parents was going to die young. This was a funny story to her, and the context was not for her to share her trauma, it was about laughing at the horror in this girl's eyes when she read that in her palm! I didn't know until M told the story that her mom was dead. I thought she said it happened when she was 8, I found out like 6 months ago that she was 21. I was like, OOPS.

A - She mentioned in passing conversations from pretty early on that she spent some of her childhood in Panama (we're in the US). I've only put together from bits and pieces of what she's dropped how long she lived there, why, and how it intensely it impacted her. I found out 2 months ago that she went back when she was 15 by herself and like, had sex, etc.

If I were writing our friendship in a fic or novel, it would be so easy to have M be like, "Today is really hard for me because it's the anniversary of my mother's death. She and my dad divorced when I was little, and she remarried someone horrible and abusive, and then she died when I was in college. It's so complicated to remember and miss her as my mother, but also as the person who introduced these really toxic people into my life."

Or for A, it could be like, "I was in a restaurant with my new friend A, who surprised me by ordering in fluent Spanish. When she saw the look on my face, she said, 'Oh, I spent a lot of my childhood living in Panama. My parents were both in Doctors Without Borders, so they brought us all down, and then I went back to study abroad myself in high school. It was a really complicated experience, sometimes I feel like I missed out on an American childhood and a Panamanian childhood, like I had neither. The whole thing really changed my relationship with my parents, and my brother, and I'm not sure I've even processed it all.'"

Those are boring! That's infodumping, and not how real friendship or relationships tend to work. Maybe if you're online dating and you Go On A Date and say Tell Me About Yourself, but most relationships grow more organically.

If this is something your POV character needs to know, for example they're trying to date M and we need the reader/POV character to know that her mom is dead -- then ask yourself:

When would she tell the POV character about it? Early on, to get it out of the way? In a big reveal towards the end? Dropped casually in the middle in a way that she doesn't thinks is a big deal or want to be a big deal? The big question is: will M share this BEFORE there's a situation in which this information is helpful context, or AFTER? After is usually what I choose in fiction, because it keeps things more interesting for the reader and the POV character. This means we can wonder "Hmm I wonder why M had that reaction, that was weird," instead thinking "Oh I bet she reacted that way because of her dead mom."

What is an in-character way for M to share that info? Is it through a monologue? A funny story about palm reading? An anniversary? A picture falling out of her wallet? We may actually learn more from this—the way M wants to share this—than from the content of what she's sharing.

Does she want to talk about it? Is it something she brings up frequently? How does she respond to questions?

Does she want to attribute things in her personality to it? Very few people say, "The reason I'm like XYZ is because of ABC experience I had at age 8," but that's pretty common in fiction or movies. But people are complex. How does M see the impact of this on herself, and how does the POV character see it, and if those are different, what does that mean for POV character? That's fun, potentially!

What is her tone/mood when she's talking about it? Sad? Crying? Pretending to be fine? Actually fine? Totally over it? Jaded? Telling a joke? This tells us SO MUCH about M.

FUN BONUS QUESTION: Does she realize she hasn't mentioned this before? Does she even know this is the first time she's told you her mom is dead, or has she forgotten who she's told and who she hasn't? Her NOT realizing it's the first time is a super interesting thing for your POV character to go through.

[bbcphile]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers (except me because obvs I have done it). Spread the self-love ❤

Thanks for the ask, @thesilversun! 😀

Since the ask said written, not “are writing,” I’m not including my current MLC longfic (as yet unnamed), but otherwise it would absolutely be on this list. It’s 58k and not yet halfway through (facepalm), and I’m really looking forward to finishing it and sharing it. So, for MLC folks, sorry there’s only one MLC fic here!

1. What’s Sealed Away (Mysterious Lotus Casebook, Dihua)

I really enjoyed figuring out how a-Fei’s amnesia works based on the details the show gives us and the things it’s oddly silent about, and reverse engineering based on how he acts towards LLH what his experience of amnesia might be like. (Also, as someone who has unfortunately had experience with amnesia, I feel like most examples of the amnesia trope really punt on the many different kinds of memory and how amnesia can mean you lose some but not all, and the wild things that happen when there are contradictions between them.) I’m also really proud of the ways I tried to convey the meanings behind LLH’s reactions even when DFS as the POV character had no way to fully interpret them because of all the missing context. It was a fun writing challenge.

2. Nunc Atque Semper (Horatio Hornblower, Maria/Horatio Hornblower, past Archie Kennedy/Horatio Hornblower; the only Dead Kennedy Universe fic I will ever write)

I can’t even read fics where Archie dies without being an emotional mess for days, so I was not ever expecting to write one. But 1. I got a prompt for it, and 2. It was a chance to hold Horatio accountable for the ways he treats Maria in the series while also being sympathetic to him for his overwhelming grief and being married to someone he doesn’t love; and 3. I love incorporating literary allusions into my work, and Archie’s canonical love of Shakespeare meant that I could have a central part of the fic be Maria essentially trying to do literary analysis to figure out what Archie and Horatio were to each other. I very much broke my own heart with this fic and I’m still proud of it.

3. Harboured and Encompassed (Horatio Hornblower modernAU (libraryAU + actor!Archie), Archie/Horatio; Archie/Horatio/Will pre-slash; 148,000 words)

I am still so incredibly proud of how I adapted the characters and events (with aspects of some of the books thrown in) to a modern setting while staying true to who they are. These characters will always have a very very special place in my heart, as will the special combo of humor, fluff, and heart-rending angst that having a character like Archie at the center of it enabled (I miss writing him so much sometimes). I love the whole series, too, but this is definitely the core of it.

4. Turning Over the Sands of Time (Horatio Hornblower, Archie/Horatio)

I still don’t understand why this one has so few kudos when I think it’s some of my best writing. Maybe the subject matter is too bleak/violent? (Mind the tags if you read it!) I really love writing missing scene fics and character studies, and the moments from the show that bookend this fic break my heart every time and make me fall in love with Archie all over again, respectively, and I wanted to delve into the hellscape of Archie’s mind in those moments and show how, even when he is in emotional agony and dealing with flashbacks, he is still compassionate and caring and trying with what little agency he has to make sure no one ever suffers as he did, or at least, if they are forced to, that no one has to suffer alone. (Also, a horribly depressed and triggered Archie means a very poetic Archie, which means I got to write lines like “The actors had changed, but the play had not” and “a rotting weed by any name would smell as fetid” and “Dying might be a price worth paying if it could but purchase that.” Have I mentioned I miss writing Archie?)

5. Taking Hands Against a Sea of Troubles (Horatio Hornblower, Archie/Horatio)

TW: suicide mention

The first time I saw a delirious Archie quote Anthony and Cleopatra during his suicide attempt and the play-illiterate Horatio has no idea what he’s saying, I knew I wanted to write the a scene where they see the play together years later in Drury Lane and Horatio finally understands the context. And I knew the scene in the theater box would need so much non-verbal communication and would need to be so comparatively subtle–because of the semi-public nature of the theatre box and the very real danger they would face if Horatio actually comforted Archie more overtly–so I waited a few years after having the idea until I was able to execute it the way I wanted to. I really love fics that deal just as much (if not more) in what’s unsaid than what’s said–for all that I love deep dives into character psychology–and I’m so glad I was able to finally write this. 

Thanks again for the ask!

[shsl-heck]

So because I've seen it compared to Worm, I started reading The Boys by Garth Ennis. It's bad! Like really bad! It feels like what would happen if you let an edgy anti-feminist atheist youtuber from 2015 write a comic book. I finished the first volume of the omnibus in large part because it was a train wreck I couldn't look away from, and am debating starting the second since I hate myself. The most interesting parts are actually the little forewords. Through them I learned both that it was supposed to be a comedy, and also a critique of the military industrial complex/police (or at least that people read it as one). This was surprising to me since it is neither funny nor incisive. Anyway, now I want to ramble incoherently about my problems with it because this goddamn comic broke my brain.

Okay, so one of the most common ways it shows you which characters you aren't supposed to like is by having them do comically "gross" sex stuff. Notable examples include cocaine fueled orgies, mentions of shitting during sex, bestiality, masturbating in public to the sight of disabled people, and a little person using sex toys. One that shows up repeatedly in this context is characters being bisexual or gay. Now, I don't wanna get controversial, but I think any claims that your work is a critique of capitalism, police, the military, or whatever are rendered moot when your villains are a group of secret hedonistic sex-freaks. Like we can't pretend that doesn't sound a lot like regressives and their obsession with "degeneracy". Sexual assaults, misogyny, and slurs also appear pretty often, mostly as the punch line for jokes. Victims are rendered down into objects and denied any sense of interiority so we can instead focus on what really matters (gore porn, and middle school 4chan posters' sense of humor). Never once does Ennis deign to explore the actual impact and trauma of these things, or ask why he views these things as material for jokes.

That incuriosity is I think the real problem with The Boys. There is no actual coherent thought about why things are bad. Superheroes hurt people and are wrong because of their personal moral failings as selfish perverts, not because their whole job is to violently enforce the will of the state. It's like if someone agreed that all cops are bastards, but only because all cops just so happened to be "bad apples". The main characters literally work for the fucking CIA, and yes, I know the titular Boys are at best meant to be anti-heroes a la the Punisher. My issue here isn't that they're hypocrites who are frequently also horrible. It's that this premise for is absolute nonsense if you think for half a second. Superheroes do not function without the legitimacy granted to them by the state and it's monopoly on violence, so why would the CIA need these 5 randos with zero oversight working to take out the supers? Is the force Homelander and the others can bring to bear so great that even the apparatus of that state can't deal with them? If so, why does this group of assholes change that? Normally I'd be willing to give the story a lot more of a pass when it comes to questions like this, except I'm being told that this story has things to say about systemic problems involving the government and corporations! So I have to ask, where? Where is the commentary? What does it actually have to say about the state of the world circa 2006-2012? The only answer I can come up with is "not a whole lot". It's a story which dares to ask the tough questions like "what if the world was made of pudding" and then ignore answering those questions so it can instead recite Ellis' favorite slurs in alphabetical order while showing you a woman's tits.

On a lighter note, it's also just not very good. The plot (as mentioned) falls apart under any amount of scrutiny, pacing is bizarre in a bad way, the characters aren't compelling, themes remains stubbornly unexplored, and Ellis is allergic to doing anything interesting or creative with the premise he's decided to base a whole comic around. I genuinely do not know what people enjoy(ed) about this comic.

[linka-from-captain-planet]

that minthara and florrick update was NUTS. Minthara using her sources to see if Florrick ever slept with Ulder is EXACTLY the kind of unhinged, territorial behavior I love her for tbh. If you need an excuse to ramble about them, I would love to know how you picture this whole thing between them starting!

YES because the thing about Minthara is that she's operating on nuclear Menzoberranzan levels of intensity 24/7. Writing her subjective narration is very fun because she's so intelligent and cunning, but her perception of things is just slightly skewed from the reality of Baldurian life. That's the realization she starts to have toward the end, that she's playing this hardcore game of 4D chess basically just against herself, while Florrick is only like... having a nice evening banging her work frenemy (which is unhinged, just not nearly on the same level).

I only briefly mentioned in the fic what context I think this thing could have started in, but I'm obviously insane about this ship, so I'll take any excuse to expand! Wall of text incoming though...

Since the story is told from Minthara's POV, I wanted to go over what she sees in Florrick that would attract her, since Minthara's not easy to impress and doesn't waste her time with just anyone. And what she sees is... a lot of herself actually. She sees a powerful woman on a noble quest, driven by her unshakeable values, who falls into the clutches of the Absolute (albeit in a very different way) and almost loses herself, only to be saved and find herself again. I think that would earn Florrick just enough of Minthara's respect to earn her attention... and maybe a bit of a connection, too.

(This is also a saved but unromanced Minthara, passed over by the person who gave her back her life... still yearning for the affection and connection that is her deepest desire and her biggest weakness...)

Fast forward a bit and the Netherbrain is defeated, the Cult of Absolute is no more, people are cheering in the streets... All I'm saying is that *I* would be a little frisky. If I'm Minthara, I'm reaching for someone perhaps not in the tight-knit group of heroes I don't really feel a part of, but perhaps someone who's also on the edge of them, someone who's earned a bit of respect. If I'm Florrick... maybe she doesn't know that Minthara was the one who ordered the raid on Waukeen's Rest yet, or maybe she's temporarily willing to forgive it because Minthara, at the end of the day, did help save her beloved city and her beloved duke.

(Or maybe she's just a wood elf* and, opposite of Minthara, her attitude toward sexuality is pretty relaxed and she doesn't feel the need to justify her desire or make partners 'earn' it. It's just sex, not a big deal....

*not confirmed in canon and possibly refuted by her stats, but always real to ME bc of the fun flavors it adds to her characterization overall as a stern, urbane bureaucrat)

So anyway they bang once, expecting that to be the end of it.

But Minthara can't go home. There are no gods left for her. She's a traitor unto Lolth, and she knows exactly what her greatest adversary (her mom) is capable of. She could skulk in the shadows of the shadows, find fellow outcasts, build a rebel force... but maybe she bides her time, first, in Baldur's Gate. Maybe she sees an apple ripe for picking in the chaos and the rebuilding. No matter what she does, she needs resources, and she's just been given a key to the market.

You know Ulder and Florrick give what remains of Gortash's yes-men the boot on day 1 plus a lot of patriars and whatever are already dead, so there are plenty of openings among the ranks of the leadership, and who better to fill it than a renowned hero? Not in any official capacity at first (I imagine her just being a menace in a town hall for a while), but once she proves her mettle as a shrewd leader, she quickly earns her way into the council.

Obviously, this flings her back into Florrick's orbit.

Florrick wasn't born yesterday, and she also probably has a 1000-page dossier on Minthara's various war crimes drafted on day 1. She knows what Minthara is up to. Her faith in the city and Ulder's leadership is unshakeable; she does not really find Minthara to be a threat... but perhaps she takes it upon herself to monitor the situation anyway.

And that's where things get a little messy, because they're simultaneously allies and adversaries day-to-day, and they once went through something pretty extraordinary together, and they've already had sex. These are both women who aren't happy unless they're in at least a bit over their head, unless they're being challenged, and having a bit of excitement in their day that is otherwise just endless squabbling, Florrick trying to keep the city on the righteous path so it doesn't fall into corruption yet again, Minthara trying to snatch power bit by bit...

Well I just think they'd have a lot to fuck about, basically.

And considering that Minthara is a known feelings-catcher... while Florrick's love is reserved for Baldur's Gate and Ulder** even though she shares her body with Minthara... there's a lot to feels about, as well.

**I'm on the fence headcanon-wise if I want Florrick to actually be somewhat in love with Ulder and simply at peace with it not being mutual/sexual, or if she's simply a very devoted friend and Minthara's jealousy is irrational.

Anyway this is possibly more than you bargained for but thanks for the opportunity to ramble :)

[aceofspades-sml]

My extensive thoughts on the main characters in Newsies uk

Last post about the show I promise but I have too much to say about those guys

(Again I was sat in Manhattan and everything you guys know the drill at this point )

Starting off with Jack !

He has so many emotions ??? Like Michael is so good at portraying Jack's feelings here, and I think the one that comes back the most throughout the show is anger. He is angry at the world, he is angry because the newsies' life is literally so unfair, and don't get me started on his disgust toward Katherine in act 2. Like he doesn't even want to be near her he is staying as far away from her as possible and that's very striking

And that's the thing about Jack's anger, he is never just angry he is also incredibly sad and bitter ?? You can see exactly how broken this boy is and I love it

Also his version of Santa fe is legit so sad. Because first of all, he really makes you notice that Jack just got out of a fight. He is soaked and tired, stuggles to walk and has to hold on to everything he can find to keep his balance. And the way he sings is kind of a mix of angry and hopeless and his voice breaks and it hurts so much

And the final note ?? One of the best I've heard, it's not only the tone it's the emotion in his voice it's the way he is reaching desperately for something he knows he can't get and you can really feel that in this one note

I have so much stuff to say about hopeless Jack and I need to talk about his attitude in the watch what happens reprise because he is literally tired of this, he is desperate and genuinely scared for all his guys because he just wants to protect them and he can't. And that's why he gives up later on in Pulitzer's office, because the mention of Crutchie is enough to literally break him so don't even try telling him about Davey and other newsies going to the refuge

His speech at the rally is so heartbreaking istg I can't deal with this. The way his voice just breaks on every sentence because he understands exactly what's at stake here. And his "how long can you go without making money" line ? I'm like 99% sure he was speaking directly to Tommy boy. Tommy boy who had been a scab, and the last of them to join the strike. It's so specific and so cruel but at the same time devastating because Jack knows his newsies so well. He knows Tommy boy will be vulnerable to this I-

Also after the rally the newsies all pass by Jack shooting him darks looks and he just. Doesn't want to look them in the eyes. Excuse me while I scream in my pillow

His relationship with Katherine was very interesting too. Their dynamic was actually quite different from anything I've seen, overall much more genuine and less superficial than in some productions

+ during I never planned on you, his physical comedy is literally adorable ?? Like he makes Kath pose for him to sketch her and at some point he even tilts her chin up

One more thing I have to talk about, because getting a poc Jack is absolutely amazing and it changes so much stuff in the show ??? Like not explicitely, but the undertones are really different in the context of Jack being black. E.g. his entire Seize the day monologue feels so much more emotional, and Michael really speaks slowly to insist on every single line and make sure we know what he is talking about

Another striking scene about this is Something to believe in. I think that's part of why I said the Jack x Kath dynamic hit different, because this context really changes everything in this song, with the turning point being "I know girls like you don't wind up with guys like me". And it's not just about Jack being poor it's about him knowing very well what having a different skin color means in this world and he is scared to hell about it

The point I'm trying to make is that having a poc Jack gives a whole new dimension to the show and I absolutely adore the way Michael chooses to show this

Also I want to talk about Javey because why not but uh let me tell you Jack does not like Davey at the beginning. He is actually mean and when he talks about needing Les to sell newspapers he is clearly implying "but I don't need you." This changes later on, I really liked the scene before they run from Snyder when Jack thinks Davey need a place to sleep because it feels like okay I don't like your vibe but you're one of my guys now so I want to protect you

Anyway they become closer after that but yeah the way this dynamic starts off is very different

But then they become so intimate ?? I'll come back to this with Davey but they actually get close physically and emotionally, not only with the strike but also because they genuinely start liking each other. I think you need the context of the fandom's vision of Javey to appreciate this relationship development to it's fullest but when you have it boy oh boy

Davey < 333

This may not all be coherent because the most constructive thing I can say about him atm is very close to "alekkkajja" so deal with me here

He is autistic. And gay. Ryan kopel I owe you my soul for this

The first time he comes on stage it already looks pretty clear that he is extremely anxious socially, and as the show goes on it's literally obvious that this guy is autistic as hell

He is stimming for the entire show ??? Always fidgeting and doing something with his hands, little nervous gestures all the time, stuttering when he has to speak in front of people...

When I say stuttering, I mean it. At the beginning it's clearly because he is extremely anxious and doesn't want to speak up on front of the others, he is refraining himself from saying what he really thinks. But then it changes ! Character development !!! He starts stuttering because he is rephrasing what he wants to say so he can make it clear, not because he is afraid to speak up !

Also his character development as a whole is just so amazing. It's not just the way he gets more self-assured throughout the show, it's the way he is clearly becoming more comfortable with all the other newsies ! It's the way at the beginning he is standing very far from the other (literally the other end of the stage) because he doesn't want to be a part of the strike, and then he goes toward them, he comforts them. It's the way he goes from the scared guy who stutters all the way through the "you gave me nineteen" line, to the guy who has to speak up at the rally in front of all the others ! And it's so clear he does not want to do this, he would rather be anywhere else, but he still has the courage to do it ! I could go on for hours about this but the way he gains self-assurance is just. So interesting.

Obv I can't talk about this without talking about the watch what happens reprise. For me it was the moments where I could really see how much he had changed (and how autistic he was) because he is just so excited ! He is talking fast and loudly, he goes toward Jack, tries to establish physical contact with him ! He just got so comfortable around him, he feels free to behave like this with Jack ! Also plotwise this is really the best interpretation of this scene imo, because his excitement is SO contrasting with Jack's hopelessness and it makes the whole dialogue 100% more moving

Also the way his voice goes from "is that a real place ?" = excited bc Jack you're so talented - to "ohhh is that Santa Fe ?" = okay this is bad

Also "we. Are. Inevitable." *Ninja pose*

+ "tell me how quitting does Crutchie any good ?" "Exactly" in the most I-told-you-so singsong voice ever

Did I ever mention this boy is gay

The scene after Jacobi's ? That's gay flirting if I have ever seen it. "Why don't you come over ?- TO MEET MY FOLKS" yeah sure we believe that

"It's- it's good to have you back again" he is so bright and happy and it's just adorable to watch pls

Idk who cares about this but um. When they all get in the triangle to say their names during Seize the day. He says Davey. He doesn't say David. He calls himself Davey. I'm gonna need a moment to recover from this

Coming back to the "being comfortable around Jack" thing but !! The reaction to meeting the governor !!!! When Roosevelt's shakes Jack's hand Davey runs toward him excitedly and they both fangirl so hard like "bro did you see what just happened ???"

Okay one last thing and i'll stop but he is incredibly protective of Les. During Seize the day he is the one to drag him away from the fight instead of Jack and during the rally he is pulling Les behind him to prevent Jack from getting to him and that's honestly so heartbreaking because it also shows how deeply disgusted he is with Jack at this moment

Yes I'll stop now sorry but I love this Davey so much you don't even know

Katherine

I'm gonna be honest here, I never really liked Katherine. But Bronté's Kath ? I can and will die for her

She seems to be more aware of the situation. Like in Watch what happens and at Jacobi's she seems to actually understand what is at stake, maybe even more so than some of the boys

Also she is very responsible, during WWK she is on the aisles (right-hand side looking at the stage), taking notes about what the boys are doing ; and when she meets them at Jacobi's, instead of giving in to them turning her down and to Jack's flirting later on, she always tries to come back to the topic at hand= the strike. Imo this was very nice because it establishes her as an actual and serious reporter

Due to this it actually feels like she is very present in the show, because I think part of why I didn't like Katherine before was bc I felt as if she was established more as a plot device for Jack's love story than as an actual character (that's only my opinion tho). But here she really appears as a reporter who is essential to the strike, like a mix of Broadway!Kath and 92!Denton, which makes her whole arc so much more interesting imo

Sidenote but this essential role is also shown when she is the only one we see on stage looking at the banner at the end of Once and for all which is really cool

And she is so sassy ??? Like at Jacobi's she replies to the boy's insults in a very sarcastic tone, and during watch what happens she goes "a girl ? It's a girl ! Is that even legal ?" and mimics/mocks the attitude of the editors . Okay queen

"the guy painting places he has never seen is calling us crazy ?" is said to Davey instead of Jack

Also yeah "now would be a good time to shut up" I think a guy behind me gasped so yeah thanks queen

After the rally the emotion in her voice felt SO real and genuine. The way she proposes her plan to Jack feels like she is trying real hard to make up for not telling him everything, because she knows she has no excuse for it so now she can only try to do her best to make him forgive her. Also if I'm being honest, I never really liked Something to believe in as a song, but again, Michael and Bronté actually made me fall in love with it. Their voice were really intense - tho it was last sunday's show so I can't tell if this level of emotion with their voices almost breaking is and everytime thing or if Bronté was really losing it. Which, fair.

Moving on to Crutchie !

YES ??? This interpretation of Crutchie is just so different (in a really positive way)

Just to make it clear, I love AKB and I have nothing against his Crutchie. But after years of watching Crutchie be this little soft ball of sunshine who sometimes talks to Jack, this one really felt like he was finally allowed to express his full potential on stage

Because boy this Crutchie is loud. He is center stage. You can't miss him, he is always whistling, talking loudly, being noticed, you don't have a choice but to see him, you can't just not aknowledge him because he is right here and he makes you notice him

Also he is like. Essential to the narrative. Because he has a clear leadership role toward the other boys (telling them to run after Seize the day...). And his relationship with Jack is incredibly important here, from the beginning to the end it's them, Crutchie and Jack. That's established very clearly in the Prologue, but to me the most important scene to show this was the WWH reprise. Because Jack is so heartbroken and hopeless because of Crutchie. He is almost giving up because he's so genuinely scared for him. And don't even get me started on Jack's attitude when Pulitzer talks about Crutchie in the refuge bc my boy is this close to a breakdown

Also due to this Letter from the refuge hurts so much ?? He misses Jack and all the boys, and he clearly put the accent on telling Jack to take care of all the others ! To protect them !! He is in the refuge and all he wants his to know his friends are safe !

And his whole arc his so much darker in this ?? He is very aware of their situation, willing to buy the papers before the World will know and when Henry asks "at those prices ?" his answer is a very definitive "like we got a choice ?". And when he gets beat up after Seize the day he is actually pleading very loudly for the boys to come back for him and for Wiesel not to hit him. In Letter from the Refuge he actually seems to be in physical pain, and at the end when he gets back from the Refuge it's not just "yeah I got back that's nice" it's literally yes I went through hell and I came back. And oh boy his "may I ?" before cuffing Snyder and hitting him ? He's not joking around, he actually wants to make him pay for what he did

This is the Crutchie this fandom deserved and I would die for him thank you very much

And finally (yes I'm almost done I promise), Race !!!

Okay this is definitely my favorite Race

He has nothing to do with Ben's Race. If you ask me, he is much more like 92sies Race, though obviously not the same

He isn't just a goofy idiot joking around, he is really mature. He is one of the oldest and most mature newsies, and it shows, through the way he dresses and his attitude as a whole

Yes he still likes messing around, like in King of New York, but he is also very responsible toward the other newsies and is really shown as Jack's right-hand man, with many scenes where it's really obvious that he has a leadership role. E.g. at the beginning with his "Henry get down here", and during once and for all when he seems to be giving instructions to the newsies around the stage. Also he clearly cares a lot about them and wants to protect them so yeah overall a much more mature Race than what we got with Broadway

From what I saw he is still very close to Albert, and also to Specs ? Which makes sense because they are all among the oldest newsies. Finch also hangs out with them sometimes but less frequently

Also he is literally rough around the edges. He is actually ready to pick up a fight with the Delanceys at the beginning and oh boy don't get him stressed because then he is ready to lose it

Okay I really want to talk about his relationship with Davey because um. Race actively dislikes him for a solid half of the show (let's just assume no one likes Davey at the beginning okay). His "aren't we the hoi poloi ?" is actually mean. Maybe my take is entirely wrong, but imo the way Race sees it, Davey is just that priviledged guy who suddenly came in and has no idea what's at stake for most of the newsies, and he very strongly despises him for it. And at the beginning he is clearly not happy with Davey putting his guys in danger with the strike, which comes back to the idea of him being a leader and having to care for the younger newsies. Overprotective Race we stan

This changes after Seize the day tho, during Kony they actually seem to get closer and establish an intimate bond during the song

Also at some point (I think Seize the day ?) he gives Les a piggyback which is pretty cute

Okay I promise now I'm done ranting but this version of the show is actually amazing because the actors have an entirely different take from the Brodway show so it really feels like you're rediscovering it all over again

[relicsongmel]

Actually you know what fuck it I think I do wanna elaborate on Sylvia/Cyllene. Extensive, dubiously coherent yapping about OC x canon under the cut so be warned

First of all, a bit of background on the context behind Sylvia's PLA AU: Sylvia gets isekai'd to Hisui while she's still halfway through her travels in Sinnoh, which is roughly a year after her challenge to the Unova Pokemon League and the whole debacle at N's castle. Which is to say, she's already a pretty experienced Trainer at this point and her experiences with Team Plasma have greatly influenced the way she approaches her relationship with Pokemon (I could write a whole other essay on this topic but basically she's extremely careful about abiding by her Pokemon's wishes and always puts all Pokemon before herself regardless of whether they're hers or not).

With that laid out, let me explain why I'm really drawn to Sylvia/Cyllene as a ship (SteadfastHeartShipping, as I've dubbed it) and why it's genuinely one of my favorite Sylvia shippings I've ever had.

On the surface, Cyllene comes across as distant, detached, and even unnecessarily harsh at points, such as when she very bluntly tells Sylvia that should she fail to pass her initial trial to enter the Survey Corps, she will be left out in the wilderness to whatever fate has in store for her—probably death, all things considered. Her demeanor is emblematic of the frigidity of Hisui itself, and I often think about how it's very likely a coping mechanism to deal with how ruthless and unforgiving a region it is, in an era predating the coexistence of humans and Pokemon. The weather is cold and often unpredictable, resources are scarce, and Pokemon are incredibly dangerous and (somewhat rightfully) considered terrifying by most people. To put it simply, death lurks around every corner in the land of Hisui—and Cyllene has likely lost so many comrades within the Galaxy Team that she's found it's easier for her to manage if she simply shuts herself off emotionally. After all, there's no point in getting attached to someone when you can lose them all too easily, which we know for a fact she has—even disregarding the possibility of losing someone to disease or injury, there's a Diamond Clan member who mentions that Clover of the Miss Fortune sisters was once a member of the Survey Corps before she became fed up with the Galaxy Team and left to live as a bandit instead. With all this in mind, her cold mannerisms are the only way she knows how to survive without disrupting the delicate emotional balance in her heart. And she cannot allow herself to bare weakness—because that poses the risk of succumbing to despair, which would further compromise her ability to protect what small amount of people she has remaining.

Enter Sylvia: a woman who, by all appearances, is entirely Cyllene's opposite—clearly visibly nervous from suddenly finding herself in an unfamiliar land and needing to adapt to its people and culture, but nonetheless bright, cheerful, and eager to make herself useful to the Galaxy Team. She's friendly and adaptable, and seems to hold nothing but love for the world around her—a love she displays wholly and openly, and extends to both people and Pokemon. On top of that, her knowledge of Pokemon rivals that of Professor Laventon and she proves herself to be incredibly adept at handling and surveying them. In all respects, she's truly a godsend to the Survey Corps, but Cyllene can't help but find it baffling that she can wear her heart on her sleeve in such a way despite her position as a stranger from the space-time rift, who could well be sent back to her own era at any time, for all she knows. Of course, what she won't admit to herself is that Sylvia's loving nature reminds her of what she's deprived herself of for so long, but nonetheless, watching her care so deeply makes her heart ache—in a way she can't ignore no matter how much she tries. Her defensiveness of how she's chosen to cope with her loss notwithstanding, it also makes her worry that someday this young woman will suffer the cruel bite of reality one day whether she's prepared for it or not, a fate all too likely in Hisui. It takes time, but she eventually realizes that Sylvia's open love is a source of strength for her, and she comes to admire her for that quality, different though it may be from her more reserved way of showing it.

What Cyllene doesn't realize until much later, however, is that Sylvia is not nearly as naive or emotionally straightforward as she originally perceived her to be.

Sylvia is all too familiar with loss and emptiness herself—she's never known her father, she had an uncle seemingly vanish from her life without a word, she was once betrayed by someone she considered her companion and friend (even if she eventually helped him see reason in the end), and now, she's completely cut off from her family, friends and Pokemon across time and space, wholly uncertain if she'll ever find a way to return to them, or even see them again. Sylvia does her best to come across as kind, approachable and dependable, and while it is motivated by a genuine desire to do good in the world, it is also a facade to cover up the fact that she feels like an outsider in Jubilife Village. That she feels alone. But she, much like Cyllene, doesn't start in a position where she feels safe to express that kind of vulnerability to others, because for all she's willing to extend a helping hand to others when they need it, she'll only ever do so from a safe distance—a distance she's gotten frighteningly good at disguising behind a friendly smile and a gentle laugh. She won't let anyone in on her grief, because in her mind they've already been burdened with having to accept her despite her status as an outsider, and because she doesn't feel like she's earned the right to be cared for in that way (which again, is a whole other conversation on its own but if I go on that tangent now I will never stop so. Another time unfortunately). As for her thoughts on Cyllene specifically, she's initially a bit intimidated by her (as well as most of Galaxy's leadership in general—she's more uptight around them due to her aforementioned anxieties about fitting in, and fears that one wrong word or action could compromise her standing with them), but she's emotionally intelligent enough to recognize that she has the best interests of the Survey Corps at heart, and her actions speak louder than her words in that regard. She admires her work ethic and commitment to studying Pokemon, and even finds herself appreciating her blunt remarks in the sense that she has high regard for her ability to be brutally honest in a way that she could never bring herself to be.

Her exile from Jubilife Village during the calamity on Mount Coronet is very tumultuous for Sylvia and Cyllene both, as the event further solidifies the former's insecurities about whether there's truly a place for her in Hisui, and the latter finds herself terrified for Sylvia's safety to a degree she hasn't felt with anyone in a long time. Her worst fears are confirmed when her Abra, having picked up on its partner’s worrying, teleports away for a moment only to bring back a critically injured Sylvia from the Temple of Sinnoh after her battle against the Pokemon from the space-time rift. Thankfully the Medical Corps is right next door to patch her up—though they’re not entirely sure whether she’ll make it at first, in the end she comes out alive mostly thanks to Abra bringing her to safety before she could lose too much blood from her injuries. Of course, she doesn’t leave the ordeal unscarred—her memory of the past few days’ events is hazy, but she remembers clearly the despair she felt from her exile and it’s at this point Cyllene finally starts to see her crack. She visits her injured subordinate at her bedside in the Medical Corps office, and Sylvia tearfully asks her why she and many others went to such lengths to help her regain her position, and why she’s even worthy of being saved when she's an outsider who fell from the very source of the calamities plaguing Hisui. In a rare moment of complete emotional sincerity, Cyllene gently takes her hand and affirms that she is no longer an outsider—that she believes in the woman who's been instrumental in bringing the people and Pokemon of Hisui closer together. The woman who she's seen do good for the Galaxy Team over and over again. The woman who helped her realize that there is strength to be found through daring to express love and compassion in the face of death and strife. And hearing those words from her captain of all people—the same woman who once told her to her face that she'd be willing to let her die out in the wilds, but now has garnered enough respect for her to the point that she would openly defy her superior's orders for her sake, and whose Pokemon is now the very reason she's even alive at all after she narrowly carried out the order that she was also entrusted with by her? To stay it stirred something deep within her soul is a massive understatement.

As for how they eventually end up a couple? To put it simply...they're very messy and I love it to pieces. Cyllene finally admits to herself she's in love with Sylvia not long after the events at the Temple of Sinnoh, but as much as her feelings are starting to reach a boiling point, getting over her fear of emotional vulnerability isn't something that's going to happen overnight. Sylvia, meanwhile, is blessed with the hilarious but also dreadful trait of being frightfully perceptive about the romantic inclinations of literally everyone except herself and whoever she's attracted to in the moment—in which case her intuition is roughly akin to that of a brick. As such, it takes quite a lot for her to even realize she's in love most of the time, and unfortunately for Cyllene, this time is no different (and honestly even if she wasn't Like That she probably wouldn't have the guts to confess to her superior anyway). Cyllene also has to contend with the fact that Sylvia is, at the end of the day, not from her era—there's always a possibility she could be sent back through the space-time rift without warning, and she has to consider whether it's worth it to pursue a relationship with someone who could very easily be taken away from her at any moment. Which ultimately makes her decision to finally act on her feelings all the more impactful, in my opinion—even if she has extremely Disaster Lesbian methods of going about it lmao. Basically she kicks everyone out of her office one night to write multiple letter drafts that almost all end up in the trash. Sylvia, having been out all day on a survey, walks in on her writing one of them and she has to quickly put it away and shoo her off, her face burning all the while. When she finally finishes something she's somewhat happy with she stares at it for a solid 30 minutes before Abra takes matters into its own hands again and snatches it from her desk before teleporting to Sylvia's quarters to give it to her. Sylvia is THOROUGHLY shocked by the contents and spends the next few hours pacing said quarters, trying to figure out why her breathing is so unsteady and her heart is beating out of her chest before she meets her captain at Prelude Beach at midnight as the letter requested (she figured it out at about 11:30 and spent most of the time before the meeting with her hands over her face covering a smile that did not fade until after she had fallen asleep that night).

Long story short, their relationship is very wholesome and sweet—Sylvia brings out a very affectionate side of Cyllene that's unexpected at first but not at all unwelcome, and Cyllene in turn helps Sylvia grow more assertive when she needs to be—which benefits her quite a lot as she eventually gets promoted to Captain of the Survey Corps herself after Cyllene takes over as the Galaxy Team's commander. As much as I think they're perfect for each other to the point that I genuinely hesitated to canonize Sylvia returning to her own era after she sought out all Pokemon as Arceus had asked of her (because it made me too sad), in recent days I've started to think it would be a very fitting ending for their respective arcs. Cyllene's development from someone who swore to herself she would no longer be done in by the burden of allowing herself to care for those she would only end up losing, to someone who found a person so special to her that she willingly chose to love her even though she was the one most at risk of being lost—and someone who vowed that she would follow her example and continue to love in the same way she did, even after she was gone? Paired together with Sylvia learning that she will always find a home for herself wherever she goes among the people and Pokemon that she holds dear, and someone seeing through the invisible walls she's put up isn't such a bad thing after all? That it serves to further deepen the bonds she's put so much care into fostering (with this likewise being a lesson she learned from the woman she loved and one she swears to maintain even after they were separated)? Heartbreaking though it may be, it's simply too good to pass up.

TLDR: the core of Sylvia and Cyllene's relationship is how it moves from "she is everything I'm not and I'm into that" to "she's actually a lot more like me than I thought and it only makes me love her more." And I'm obsessed with it.

[alcalexandria]

Cuts, Reshoots and Changes made to Terminator: Dark Fate.

As part of another giant essay I’m working on about the possibility of Dani & Grace being an intentional romance at some point (Edit - that has since been posted, and you can now find it here), I wanted to gather up a reasonably detailed list of Dani/ Grace scenes that we know were changed at some point during production of Dark Fate.

This is mostly a reference for that post rather than something standalone, but you might find it of interest all the same. I won’t spend *too* much time on my extrapolations here, but you’ll probably get the gist of what I’m thinking.

You’re more than welcome to offer your own angle though, similar or different, and like I say I’ll have more on that front soon. Let me know if you can think of any relevant omissions or errors.

So what was changed? Why? How do we know?

There’s quite a bit to this, so I’m going to try to detail it in the order it appears/would have appeared in the movie, and try to explain both how we know it was cut/swapped, and what we know about why.

Again though, note that this isn’t necessarily a complete list of every cut or change we know about – just ones relevant to Dani & Grace, and how else they might or might have been interpreted if things were different. And a lot of these may be minor in isolation, but I include them for the sake of a bigger picture.

First, let’s talk about the Director’s Commentary (available in my country only with the iTunes release.)

The commentary involves Director Tim Miller and Editor Julian Clarke discussing the movie’s production and is well worth a listen – Miller has an obvious passion for the Terminator franchise and its lore, and his theories and ideas are engaging to hear. Clarke explains his thought processes logically, and for the most part, I couldn’t fault him.

… But.

In the commentary, the guys explain they did an entire editing pass to remove moments where Grace and Dani were overtly – in their words - “tactile”.

We don’t know the full extent of this, but the fact they call it an entire editing pass it quite a big deal – an editing pass means running through the whole movie as it’s assembled so far, to reselect cuts and alternate takes, from the many hours of dailies available, while ensuring the flow and continuity is still right.

It’s a significant undertaking and it’s not done lightly at the late stage we're talking here. It represents a lot of work hours by the Editor and Director (and in this case, almost certainly, the Producer)

The reason they give for this is that they didn’t want the audience to know that Grace and Dani have any kind of established relationship in the future – they want it to be a surprise that Grace already knows Dani in her own time.

To me that makes no sense, and I’ll detail why elsewhere - but it is the official reason they give, so I want to start with that preface.

It’s also worth saying, in the spirit of fairness, that they mention doing some (much less intensive) cuts and swaps with Dani and Diego, because the Editor was afraid that what’s normal for Latin actors would be too confusingly tactile for Cool Ranch flavored audiences, who may read it as a little weird and incestuous.

I think that’s silly, but I include it just to give additional context on the Editor’s perspective.

Now, on to the changes.

1. Pharmacy.

Originally the pharmacy staffmember who helps Dani pull Grace onto the street -

- then immediately asked Dani out, which she declines in no uncertain terms.

2. Motel.

The scene with Dani and Sarah has been tweaked considerably from the original. Initially, Dani had been seen crying more over Diego and her dad, this was almost all cut down and streamlined - the reason for the changes given being that test audiences were finding her a bit of a bummer.

But that isn't the only change, and the other isn't so cut and dry.

Source: Booasaur

This image is used to represent the FIRST AID KIT card in the weirdly excellent Dark Fate tie in card game.

Notably - images used in the card game are all promotional images that would have been approved for release by the studio, and the card company would have needed to have them as early as possible so they could design and produce their material.

Promotional images like this are not simply movie stills – they are actual photographs, taken by a purpose-hired photographer, which is why they never exactly align with a shot from the movie. However, because they are taken during the shooting of the movie, they’re clues to cuts we wouldn’t otherwise know of.

Dani never gets this close to Grace in the motel room while she’s unconscious in the final cut, and there’s no ice on her body in this shot, so it presumably sat before Sarah either ice’d or dosed her.

Presumably, also, this fell afoul of the "no touchy" edit pass. But there is no counterpart to this shot in the movie at all, and it's the only one of the card images where this is the case. The image itself hasn't been used in any later publicity releases either, as far as I can tell. The card game is the only trace of it out there.

So it seems like not only was the scene cut, the still itself was "de-approved" at some point later in production.

Additionally – though this is speculation, I’m not the only one making it - from the way scene is edited, it sure feels a lot like the first thing Dani does when she’s let back into the room by Grace after being sent for chips is immediately hug her, and the scene has been chopped around a bit to hide it.

Take a look for yourself, and see where this impression comes from – even though Dani and Grace have dialogue and are the active players in the moment, the camera lingers on Sarah, doing and saying nothing, for a weirdly long time, and for no clear reason.

It feels very much like a cutaway an editor might improvise so as not to show something else, and there are plenty more instances of this later we’ll come back to.

This trick, where we see generic reaction footage of somebody while rewritten/rerecorded dialogue is delivered from offscreen, is usually a last resort, a way to overhaul a storyline or conversation very late in the process.

It is used way more than I’d consider normal throughout DF – often during really major plot points, where you ideally want to make the best of everyone’s on-set performances and dynamism. It will come up a lot more.

We also know the road trip stuff with the three women was cut way down, in this case because a lot of it involved Sarah and Grace being snippier than they really need to be.

*PS – The motel room is pretty much an exact clone of the one Kyle and Sarah hid out in during T1. Keep that in your back pocket for later.

3. South Tunnel Future War Flashback.

We know from Tim Miller that the Future War battle was cut short. The original longer version showed us Hadrell/Quinn having a glorious last stand against the Rev-7s until they killed him, which presumably influences Grace’s decision to be Augmented.

According to Reddit users who were confirmed to have seen the test screenings, this longer version was actually in the cut they saw, albeit with incomplete SFX, so it was still intact even at that relatively late stage.

Remember from above - it’s supposed to be a surprise Grace knows Dani at all. That’s what Tim and Julian have told us, and it’s so important that it was worth time and money to cut scenes that had already cost too much time and money to film.

Here in the flashback we see in the final cut though, we are straight up shown Dani on the rescue stretcher.

And we are very pointedly shown Grace alone attending to her during the flight. Which casts doubt on that.

But the alternate/deleted version of this scene would have gone further, we would also have been shown “The Commander” in the alternate version of the volunteering scene  –

While that alternate scene isn’t as well executed as the one they went with, in my opinion, it’s notable in that it has Grace volunteering much more deliberately. She insists on it, outside the immediate aftermath of battle, and her reasons seem far more personal than her immediate duty to the Commander as a leader – she demands to be Augmented in direct response to seeing the seriously injured Dani in that neighboring infirmary bed, rather than for the sake of an abstract and offscreen Commander.

Now these Future War scenes all need a ton of VFX, and bespoke sets, props and wardrobe that can’t be bought off the rack or recycled anywhere else in the movie’s main present-day storyline, so they’re very expensive. Whatever else you might shoot as a just-in-case, you would not shoot more of this than you had to.

Given she’s bundled up on a stretcher, it would have been trivial to conceal the identity of the injured VIP completely – simply by not shooting her clearly, or covering her head. Natalia Reyes wouldn’t even need to be on set.

But she was - they went to the lengths of having her, having her face visible, putting her in injury makeup, and showing us Grace is uniquely, personally affected by her condition.

Which is... odd, right? A little contradictory?

4. The Train.

Quite a lot seems to be cut from this scene – we know of at least one line from the trailers, (“We win by keeping you alive”) that’s been cut, and one line Miller mentions in the commentary (Grace’s original retort to Sarah was “The only thing you and Mother Mary have in common is a dead son”), but it’s also been changed considerably since the Audition script that circulated early on.

I want to be really clear what we’re talking about here first though.

An Audition script, a “side”, is a very rough placeholder script that is used to test chemistry and emotion. The dialogue in a side will vary from rough to terrible, and sometimes the scene is deliberately misleading, as sides very often leak via the folks who don’t get the part – and indeed that’s presumably why we have this one.

But the general mood of the scene is the important thing. It is usually in the ballpark because that’s what you’re trying to be sure your actor can bring. The side is usually chosen because the particular emotional peak of this particular moment is the Director’s priority – so a side, however clumsy or misleading the dialogue is, represents something that matters so much for this character they’ll cast solely on the basis of it.

This side, which can be Google'd up pretty easily, was used to audition actresses for Dani. It sketches out a Grace who does not know, or claims not to know, Dani or what’s so important about her, and this scene is clearly a tentative bonding moment between them. Sarah doesn't even seem to be present.

In it, we see Dani show concern for Grace’s shoulder wound, before comparing it to a severe shoulder scar of her own that she shows Grace, from a bus crash in Puebla when she was fourteen, and here's an extract -

She touches [her own] scar, gently with her fingers.

DANI (CONT'D)

I'll never eat obleas again.

(Grace studies Dani as she traces the line of the scar with her finger.)

GRACE

You wanted to understand where I come from? You already do.

(Dani's eyes meet Grace's for a moment.)

DANI

My mother told me scars make the skin stronger.

Dani covers her scar with her shirt, then looks out again as the train slows, approaching Nogales.

I mean... if a movie showed you a heterosexual pair of characters doing this…?

But, we'll get to that in a subsequent post.

5. The Truck.

Here's the version of this we saw in the early trailers -

Source: Booasaur

Vs the version in the movie -

This scene, like the motel room, is an homage to a scene with Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor in T1. There are a lot of those.

6. The Crossing & The CBP Detention Centre.

There are a number of major cuts made to the sequence where the group cross the Mexico-US border, but chunks of the original version are visible in the trailers, and the deleted scene is provided in the home release.

Originally, for starters, the Rev 9 managed to track Dani to her uncle’s house, killing everyone there.

He goes on to manipulate the Mexican Federales into actively herding Dani & Co towards the CBP trap he’s set for them. Grace then spots the drone and realizes he’s tracking them, has them ditch their bags and tells them to run for it. She exchanges fire with the Federales in a running battle, and Dani’s uncle is killed.

You can see this full scene here. And actually now that I rewatch it, I'm struck by how effectively sinister Rev 9 is in the first bit, and what a shame that was to lose:  

Miller says the scene was cut down in part because whacking Dani’s relatives threatened to get a little repetitive, and he has a point (her cousin later also dies in the CBP centre), but there are some really valuable character moments in here too.

Before Grace starts shooting, Dani strictly warns Grace not to kill anybody. Which is a T2 callback, of course, but it’s also establishing Dani as taking the initiative, and it makes it apparent that Grace is already treating whatever she asks for as an order.

The gunfight itself isn’t great, frankly, but I do think the movie feels this cut. It cues up the scenes coming after it in a way that just leaves them kinda awkward without. The reason Grace is so fired up and ready to throw down with the CBP when they're caught in the spotlight is because, as far as she's concerned, she’s *already* in the middle of a gunfight; Dani’s “I’m not watching you die” to her is meant to directly address the fact she’s still feeling her uncle’s death, and can’t bear to see Grace get shot now too, rather than just something she blurts out randomly. She’s already seen somebody she cares about die, and she won’t risk it again.

But Dani’s grief at the death of her uncle would also have played into the next bit, too, something which is still in the movie - when Rev-9 drops the drone on them. Dani sees Grace easily break out of her restraints to save her from it, only to be KO’d by the blast.

In other words - having just surrendered to save Grace’s life, Dani has to see her being killed after all, and we see her looking at her lifeless body with a moment of despair. And after binding Grace with a No Kill order so that nobody else will die over her, she now sees that Grace has apparently sacrificed herself to save her.

This pays off – or would have paid off – in a deleted moment later, too. A shot seen in the trailers from when Grace finds Dani in the cages shows us Dani’s clear relief at seeing Grace is alive.

A subsequent cut shot has Grace and Dani fleeing the Rev-9, hand in hand, in slow motion.

Compare this to the much messier, more rushed sequence we see in the movie -

The Federales shootout sequence on its own is a little redundant, sure, but without this bit, the drone stuff is just... kind of orphaned, and pointless. It's a very dramatic splash of fireworks with little consequence. The shot of Dani looking at Grace's body after the blast has no purpose, and the attack has no real effect, so it might as well not have happened.

More than that, this set of cuts make for really messy continuity. There's a big mismatch between them hauling a bunch of presumably very useful gear through the desert one moment, and then abruptly having none a few shots later; and it feels silly to see everyone set out armed to the teeth with guns they never even try to use.

The way Dani’s uncle just dips out to let the cousin lead them the rest of the way in the theatrical cut feels bizarre, and the escape from the CBP centre feels tangibly choppy and not nearly as clearly composed without the moments seen in the trailer, like missing frames of animation.

7. The Plane Chase.

This whole sequence has been totally overhauled, and maybe several times.

The plane battle was originally longer (which I don’t think it really needed to be) but one notable feature is that Major Dean and the EMP grenades all appear to be later additions.

Many people had guessed this anyway - he comes out of nowhere, provides the grenades, and bows out again, without much explanation or grounding outside the few minutes he appears. And the (oddly cheap) looking grenades themselves are destroyed before ever affecting the plot. So it has all the hallmarks of a reshoot that was plugged into an existing sequence.

The original version of the sequence though, seen in the “pre vis” computer storyboard included on the home media releases, had the gang actually seize the plane by force, and physically subdue two crewmembers. The two end up tied up in the hold after one of them hits Arnie with a wrench (he still sports the injuries from this in the film)

When Rev 9 attacks, one of the crewmen is killed by cargo debris; Dani frantically tries to save the other, but he’s sucked out of the breach in the fuselage before she can.

That original version involving the kidnapped crew appears to have actually gotten as far as being filmed – two “injured” Air Force actors who seem to fit the bill are visible in some of the “Making Of” featurettes.

The prop auction blurbs – some notes from it here – seem to suggest Carl used chain brackets as weapons in the fight, which I don’t believe he does in the battle as seen.

Now why does this matter?

Well, because if there were no EMP grenades, then the conversation in the cockpit must have been completely different, since Carl and Sarah don’t have to interrupt Dani and Grace’s conversation to alert them to the damage.

The cockpit scene is a continuity mess start to finish anyway though, which is another a tell-tale sign of reshoots and re-edits - just for fun, for instance, watch out for Grace’s disappearing drink.

It’s worth watching it start to finish too just to see how much dialogue is delivered from a character who is speaking from offscreen, suggesting these lines were written and then recorded in a Sound Booth after the scenes were shot.

There’s a lot of that in this movie, which I’ve mentioned previously, but this scene in particular is rife with it; almost all its key dialogue is delivered from offscreen while we’re watching what amounts to stock footage of Sarah or Carl.

That much ADR/ overdubbing from off camera is a dead give away that a scene has been almost totally reworked.   

And why? Why did it need to be arranged so much?

Well, that brings us to what I think is the biggest change of the movie.

8. "You Saved Me" / "You Raised Me"

The suggestion Dani found and raised Grace from childhood is entirely a post-test screening addition. It was not in the original version of the movie, at all, and this has been confirmed by the Reddit test screening participants. The whole implication comes from a single line and scene which was added after the testing, and at the cost of all that continuity mentioned above.

The scene we see of Dani rescuing Kid-Grace is a reshoot which was inserted in place of another deleted scene, set during the Future War, wherein an adult Grace begs an adult Dani to let her go back and save her. That’s why the Kid-Grace scene has a different look and feel to everything else in the movie, Present Day and Future War, because it was shot way after everything else.

Before I go on, please take a moment to see the scene they cut, and imagine it back in place –

I mean... dang, right?

Unlike Major Dean or the grenades, this scene is not some neatly isolated little island, and unlike the one replacing it, it's aesthetically in tune with the South Tunnel battle. It depicts a post-Augmentation Grace, wearing “Augment” style sleeveless gear, and it’s the source of at least one promotional shot.

It also explains the circumstances Grace came back, lets Dani off the hook for sending her back to her doom, and even ties directly into a significant exchange of dialogue later on; Commander Dani is shown shedding a tear here when Grace asks to be allowed to save her, presumably because she remembers they will be some of Grace’s last words later, too.

The Theatrical Cut also still has the moment later when Grace quotes this scene to Dani’s younger self before she dies, so this scene is actually the foundation for a later one.

So it’s important, is what I'm saying, it’s laying down all the emotional groundwork for Grace’s death and the tragic implications of the movie’s Bootstrap Loop.

It makes the Commander far more sympathetic, gives Grace a ton more agency, and there are lines still in the movie which call back to it.

Without it, we even lose the visual parallel of Grace on her knees to Dani in the present day just as she is in her memory from the future, in the TDE facility.

For now then, let’s just say that I think you would need an excellent reason to pay more money to replace that original scene, especially with a scene that both looks cheaper, plays worse, and lacks the same connective tissue to anything else. And that this reason would have to be something unrelated to the needs of basic storytelling mechanics, or the Director’s preferences.

9. Underwater Battle.

Grace originally fought the Rev-9 underwater briefly, after the plane crash. That’s why she’s so exhausted when she resurfaces and they have to try to climb up the dam, and it’s why she couldn’t come to help the two others when they were trapped in the flooding Humvee.

10. Turbine Room.

Dani originally finished the battle with the Rev-9 pretty much on her own. This was reworked, apparently, to give Arnie “more of a moment”.

You can see images from the original version here.

Which I do believe - but the original flow would have meant Dani screaming at this thing that it’s taken everything she had, before going apeshit and killing it, in direct response to Grace’s death, which is pretty intense.

(Incidentally, I’m not convinced the subtitles are quite capturing her literal meaning in Spanish either, can somebody help me out?

Edit - BeneathTheThunders has confirmed this in the comments, Dani actually says "Killed everything I loved")

11. Final Scene

The playground scene with Grace as a kid is another post Test Screening addition. Originally the movie ended with a rolling road, just like T2, and a voiceover from Sarah.

Along with the added scavenger attack scene, that means it’s probable we never saw Grace as a child in the original version. At all.

Which would make for a quite different narrative bent, especially if the original Future Dani/Grace seen had still been in place.

In Summary.

Let’s consider how different that alternate narrative was.

Remember that Grace rarely, if ever, discusses Dani’s survival in terms of saving the world or winning the war, apart from her freakout in the chopper – her devotion is to Dani, personally, somebody we only ever see or hear of Grace knowing as one adult woman to another. Somebody she knows, somebody she sat vigil over in the Dragonfly and inspired her to become augmented.

Somebody, we hear only from an experienced, Augmented Grace who has saved her, with her exact meaning left to our imagination – when and how or how poetically she might mean that, we aren’t shown.

Remember that somebody, we see then, is a hardened uniformed military Supreme Commander, who nonetheless cries at the prospect of having to send Grace away to danger, something she’s tried “everything in her power” to avoid.

Remember that, back present day, that person’s first instinct when left alone with her unconscious body (after resting her head in her lap in the jeep for some reason?) is to care for her so tenderly it produced the mysteriously memory-holed First Aid Kit image. When reunited with her after being briefly parted, it’s apparently to embrace her.

While being pursued, it’s to designate her terms of engagement, and then surrender to protect her.

And notably, it is also Grace, not Commander Dani, who outlines what’s going to be done about the TDE in the flashback/forward to 2042.

So they don’t behave like either Mother/Daughter or Officer/Soldier. But they are something. And throughout the movie these two were, apparently, so physically close it was worth spending money and losing shot-to-shot continuity and clarity to put distance between them.

And in the end, when Grace does die, literally giving Dani her life with which to fight her attacker (“I’m sorry Grace!”), Dani tenderly touches her face before destroying her enemy, for taking everything she had from her - for "killing everything she loved".

I’m sure you can infer what I’m getting at there... but we’ll come back to that in a future post.

For now, here's what I'd love to know - the original cut apparently ended a little after the dam battle, with a Sarah voiceover on the rolling road.

I wonder what she said?

[yellowstarwater]

Alright time to start my episode by episode analysis of part 2 of Inside Job. By now I’m sure that most people have seen the second half of season one. But if you still haven’t (for some reason) spoilers ahead.

First up P2 E1: How Reagan got her Groove Back

I do like how it starts (mostly because it confirms my own theory) but it does feel in character that Reagan would have gone on a drunken bender. Love or hate Rand Ridley he does establish early on what he wants out of running Cognito Inc (His ex-wife and daughter) it makes sense that he would not care about what the robes want from him and only work towards his own agenda. If we go by what Brett says in the beginning of the episode then three full months have passed since the end of part one. That means that for three FULL months Reagan has been on a drunken bender and not working at Cognito!

So then why is anyone surprised that the team doesn’t back her up when she goes on a rant about her takeover plan from her father?! By all accounts Reagan left her team to deal with Rand alone and in those three months the gang is able to see that while a lot of things around the office is messed up and while they do not like Rand nothing has changed for them in terms of their jobs! Not to mention that Reagan probably created that plan when she was drunk and was still drunk when she brought it up to them!

But most people aren’t really mad at the gang as a whole. No the take that I’ve seen even some of my Breagan shippers take is that BRETT was wrong for not backing Reagan up in that situation. That it ruined his character?! What?! How does it ruin his character when he had to watch his BEST FRIEND go on a dangerous drunken bender for THREE MONTHS and has to be the one to pick her up from god knows where she ended up during that time! Because you know that it was Brett looking for her every night! Did everyone also just forgot that Brett goes to therapy?! That maybe after Brett spent three months witnessing Reagan’s behavior he would have come to the conclusion that what she needed was therapy and not to take over Cognito right now! That moment was a peak Breagan friendship moment! Brett put aside his need to please his best friend’s supposed wants and wishes and instead prioritized what Reagan needed which was therapy! And yet people have the nerve to say that BRETT was wrong for not having Reagan’s back EXCUSE ME?! How is it not having your back when you basically say hey I’m really worried about you and I think you need time to sort things out!

But I get it Reagan looked betrayed so therefore Brett must have betrayed her right? NO Brett cares about Reagan enough so that he can prioritize her safety and wellbeing over her personal wants and wishes. And if that is not solid character development right out the gate for Brett? If that is not a solid Breagan friendship moment let alone a potential shipping moment?! Then I need to hop off this ship and delete all my Breagan fics because people we are not on the same page! All I’m saying is that there are THREE full months of context that we the audience didn’t see…but Brett did!!!!😤

Okay so now that that rant is over I do like that Reagan listen to Brett and went to Anonymous Anonymous. It shows that despite being upset with him on some level she can see that she needs help. And I do think group therapy would have really helped if she stuck with it. But instead she gets distracted.

Alright ReaganxRon shippers please do not take this part of my analysis as a personal attack on your ship. You have every right to ship Reagan and Ron if you choose to do so, and I can concede that this ship is cute and that some of my opinions on this ship could be influenced by me being a Breagan shipper. But this ship rises red flag after red flag and I’m going to talk about it. 

First off any progress that Reagan could have potentially made by going to therapy is ruined by Ron. Because what right does Ron have to basically say that Reagan shouldn’t be there complaining about what happened to her because she quote ‘has to wait a little bit longer for her dream job.’ I’m sorry but the F🤬. So right off the bat Ron insults her and her reason for being in therapy. And when Reagan rightfully fights back he basically says that having your memories deleted isn’t as hard as being the person who has to delete the memories?! Again the F🤬, I’m not saying that Ron’s job doesn’t take a toll on him because it did! But still, next Ron insults her intelligence which pushes her to go after her father again. This is just the first interaction though and I will get to the other red flags in this episode later on.

Okay so Rand using Reagan’s nano bots to win the competition is interesting because that would have to mean that Rand really trusts Reagan’s invention’s despite also still insulting them and her. AB pointing out that Reagan is doing a villain monologue but also showing up because he just wants to chat foreshadows a lot of changes that will take place for him in part two. The Bohemian Groove scenes are also really fun to watch plus we finally got to see the Atlanteans! Plus the entrances of every organization pretty much sums them up easily.

I love how supportive Andre and Brett are to Gigi, honestly if Breagan turns out to not be the slow burn ship of the show I wouldn’t be surprised if Andre and Gigi are. Seriously the interaction between these three are wholesome and it does show how far the gang is willing to go for each other. Oh and Myc and Glenn were at Bohemian Grove too and must have done something too I guess.

Okay now it’s time to talk about Reagan and Ron’s second interaction. So question everyone does anyone know what Ron’s motivations are for sabotaging his own company? Oh that’s right he doesn’t want to talk about it! Alright even I a Breagan shipper can admit that Reagan and Ron have some good moments I can even understand why they hooked up but I stand by my statement when I say they were never going to last. Ron admits in this episode that he was caught trying to drink an entire vat of mind-erasing liquid and that’s why he was sent to group therapy! 🚩🚩🚩Is anyone out there starting to make the connections? Because I was able to make that connection at 3:00am with only about two hours of sleep!

One of the things that I think we need to start considering is that just because two people are compatible doesn’t mean that their goals are. And this can affect their relationship, in Reagan’s and Ron’s case their romantic relationship. Yes Reagan wants revenge on her father, Ron is right about that but Reagan hasn’t given up on the world just yet. Ron has given up on the world and that’s going to be important seven episodes later. This relationship is basically a distraction for both of them until they can fulfill the plans they want to fulfill. And while I do think it is good that Reagan decided to stop trying to fight her dad and put her happiness first. I do think this also means that in that moment she decides to stop trying to come to grips with her what happened to her which is dangerous. Think about it after this episode it’s not mentioned again even though there are still a lot of things that Reagan still needs to unpack and work on .Yes moving forward is important but how you go about it is important as well. Also the two of them not noticing that the wooden owl that they are hiding in was on fire because they were too busy hooking up?😔🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

But their hook up causing Rand and his rival is funny as hell though! Oh yeah Glenn and Myc become clowns…for two minutes! And JR is still alive.

[d-x-z]

ICE ICE BABY!

Evil morty (from the fanfic) x male reader

Note: If you read the fanfic, I do call back to their times, and I mention this one before, but I will turn them into oneshots >:)

(Posted before the fanfic is published—needed to be proofread, arc 1 needs to be rewritten/improved— for context, evil morty is just morty prime but before he decided to go solo. Pre-rick event)

17+ DNI, 16 and under blogs only!!

IMPORTANT NOTE: if there's weird cuts that skips paragraphs that doesn't complete the last one please tell me cuz my clipboards weird and won't copy paste the whole thing so I have to cut it into sections and I post through phone and it's so fucking awkward to work around

Desc: snow angels, hot chocolate, ice skating, and a burning heart to warm themselves for the winter... and even a furball to surprise them♡

Type: love/fluff

"YAYAYAYA WAKE UP MORTY!!" The brunette was passed out on his bed as a drool went down his face."MORTY WAKE UPPPPPP ITS SNOWING!!" yelled the boy who was clinging unto his life as he's outside his window. groaning, he started clawing unto the window with his hands.

"I don't want to bother your parents by going through the front door!!" Trying to claw the window open, he then saw morty stir up. The exact moment he opened his eyes, he saw Y/n covered in snow. The only thing keeping him warm was the ear muffs and the sweater he wore, "what the? Y/n what are you doing??"

He yawned as he got up to open the window. Without thinking, he let Y/n in forgetting he was covered in snow "jesus! It's cold!!!" He shivered when Y/n shook his body spraying the snow towards him as well. As y/n picked up the ear muffs he shook off "Wanna go outside and make a snow man? It's snowing right now"

pointing his thumb behind him to the window morty looked at his clock "it's 6 in the morning.. let's go downstairs even mom won't be awake during this hour. It's holidays, " he rubbed his eyes as Y/n followed behind only problem was it was snowing a bit too hard, they had to wait for a few hours to calm down.

Morty went to the bathroom while Y/n went downstairs to the living room passing by the front door to take off his shoes. Sitting on the couch, he looked out the window it really was snowing hard...did he lock his windows??

He thought to himself before deciding to deal with that later. He heared footsteps behind and it was morty in a ugly Christmas sweater "yeesh goodmorning" Y/n tilted his head backwards to see morty, his view was upside down.

“anyways you ate breakfast?” Y/n sat back up to turn around “nah, got hot coco?” morty went away to the kitchen while Y/n followed by “not nesquick, like actual hot coco” Y/n stood beside him in the counter

“that will take a whole 20 minutes to do Y/n..” “it’s not that bad, We got the time it’s christmas! C’mon get the cups i’ll get the stove ready” Y/n opened the cupboard before morty got the mugs from the drying rack

Y/n placed a pot on the stove along with milk, “can you get the sugar and cocoa powder for me real quick” Y/n opened his palm while morty searched through the kitchen and placed it on his hand

Placing in cocoa and sugar he stirred the pot, “vanilla extract, i think summer placed it in the left cupboard the last time i remember” morty checked but it wasnt there, checking the other cupboard he finally got it

Handing over to Y/n. Placing a few drops of extract he handed it back to morty, stirring it morty handed over the mugs opening the fridge to search for the whipped cream “oh my god wait, we need chocolate chips morty do you still have some??”

“oh shit, no sorry dad used it all last night for his ginger bread house” morty rolled his eyes before walking towards him with whipped cream “dang it, it’s fine we still got the creamy version of it

Pouring the hot coca unto the mugs morty helped Y/n with placing whipped cream on it “there’s still some more, let’s just keep it here. They can heat it later if they want some” morty told before bringing the mug to his lips

Sipping unto the hot coca, he cringed and retracted “hot!” Y/n laughed “dumbass i JUST made it” morty and Y/n stood leaning unto the kitchen counter, morty looked at Y/n blowing unto his mug. Y/n looked at morty looking at him before he akwardly laughed “what? Got something on my face?” morty shook hid head no before sipping his hot coca

“well seems like you’re the one that does now” Y/n laughed before his hand reached to morty’s lips, wiping away the whip cream on the corner of his mouth “o-oh, thanks” he felt something

But he couldn’t exactly pin point what he did feel at that moment, “c’mon let’s get back to the living room i think there’s a new episode of south park out” “jesus, how many season’s do they have already?” “dunno, it’s fun watching though”

As the morning passes by, Beth and Summer woke up to see morty and Y/n under a blanket watching the tv.

“seriously? I still don’t understand how you’re a dog person morty” watching dogs surround Tom holland in his puppy interview “dogs are cool! They’re just really fun to be around”

“you wanna get a dog?” morty looked at Y/n crossing his hands with a happy grin “yeah?! Who doesn’t” “what are you gonna name it when you actually do get one?” morty rested his head on Y/n shoulder thinking to himself

“dunno...probably snuffles” Y/n snickered trying his best to cover it “Hey! I can feel you laughing!” morty called Y/n out “of course! But why snuffles? Not like i can stop you from naming your dog” Y/n wheezed at the thought

“they’ll have good fur! And we can cuddle too!”

“what if they don’t wanna?”

“...”

“what if they have short hair?”

“... I’ll still love him”

“what if it’s a girl?”

“Y/n!”

“PFFT- okay okay i’ll stop”

Hearing a pair of key’s chime both boys looked behind him “excuse me boys, can you both please wake up jerry upstairs. We’re going to be late for the towns christmas show, if you both want to go to the skating ring early then you better wake him up. And morty go get ready last time you forgot your scarf and gotten sick”

Both Y/n and morty complied before Y/n simply followed morty, “wanna go to some stores after ice skating?” Y/n brought up “im broke, used my last pocket money to get gta 5” “aw boo, okay then”

///

The towns center was crowded with people, Y/n and the smiths watched the stage as acrobats sang and danced together. Morty once more looked over to Y/n’s face seeing his eyes light up im amazment

Even though the snow is pouring in, and he’s barely keeping himself warm he couldn’t help but feel warm inside. Y/n looked back at morty snapping him back to reality as Y/n shook morty “MORTY LOOK AT THEM!! IT’S SO COOL!!” Y/n excitedly cheered

Instinctively holding unto morty’s hand to not get lost in the crowd, time passed by as now the show finally ended. Both Y/n and the smith family were now in a more cleared up crowd as they dispersed to the different food stalls and venders selling ugly christmas sweaters

“ok you both boys be safe alright?? If you need anything me and jerry are gonna be near the food stalls ok?” both nodded before Y/n dragged morty to the ice ring, morty slipped on the snow but Y/n still pulled him up with joyful laughter as the two boys laughed it out

Standing in front of a guy giving out skates “10 bucks each” Y/n gladly paid for morty before they went over to check which skates would fit them “you still don’t know how to skate Y/n you sure you can do this?”

“you doubting me pokemon collecter?” “you collect pokemon card too!?” Y/n laughed before standing both held hands before entering the ice ring, once they did Y/n instead gripped unto the railings

“okay! Okay! This could be the biggest regret ever!” Y/n held the ring like a scared kitty morty simply stood there perfectly fine “just try walking towards me, v shape remember?” Y/n looked at morty reaching his hand out while the other rest on his hips

Breathing out Y/n made small steps to him, a small smile appeared on his face after morty finally gotten to hold unto him “wow, im suprised you didn’t slip yet” “shut up” Y/n grinned looking down unto the ice

“now follow me, and don’t drag me down when you do fall” morty warned Y/n lightly “pfft, i definitely will” morty rolled his eyes before letting go of Y/n leaving him in the middle of the skating ring

“m-morty!! Asshole don’t leave me here!!” “well, just do the same thing you did before. Just without me holding you” Y/n wanted to panic but he’ll fall on his ass if he did “no! I WILL fall if i try going towards you”

Morty slowly backed up “quickly before the gap starts increasing” Y/n’s eyes twitched before his skate dug unto the ice skidding towards him, morty was actually shocked that Y/n managed to get himself to move faster than what he’s personally comfortable with

“w-wait i don’t know how to stop!?” Y/n yelled, morty moved a bit to the left before grabbing y/n. But he underestimated how fast the momentum went and got dragged along with Y/n

His eyes widened before he dug his skate to the ice preventing them both to fall,

the warm breaths of both boys breezed to their faces, as their faces were so close to one another. Both of their face’s turned bright red, either from the cold or their proximity, Y/n felt warm

His chest filled him with a warm shiver. Before he went to quickly kiss morty, before morty could reciprocate Y/n managed to stand up by himself “a-anyways, wanna go skate else where?”

Y/n grinned while morty looked at his eyes “y-yeah”

///

“that was fun” morty looked at y/n “you fell 16 times that whole 30 minutes we were in there” “still fun” looking around morty looked at a wishing station, “Y/n, you wanna go wish?”

Looking at Y/n “oh, sure-sure yeah!” he smiled “wait go ahead i’ll just tie my shoes” Y/n raised his eyebrows before slowly walking away “yeah but you need to hurry up m-”

SMACK!

A snow ball was thrown at the back of his head, turning around he saw morty holding a few more snow balls “betrayal!! C’mere you little shit!” he smirked before cupping snow on his hands throwing it at morty

Chasing after him both boys laughed “can’t catch me shorty!” “morty im literally taller than you!?” morty tried throwing a snow ball at him but Y/n dodged “nuh uh” Y/n looked at morty getting the reference

“the fuck you mean nuh uh!?” he quotted back, before throwing a snow ball at his back, morty threw his last snow ball but missed and hit another persons back. Both boy’s eyes widened before Y/n rushed to the closest stall to pretend to check out it’s contents while morty turned around seeming a bit lost looking around

The man looked around in shock and anger, but morty looked at Y/n and walked towards him “best fucking save ever” “best counter attack ever” morty looked at Y/n confused but his face was stuffed with snow

“BLEGH! It came in my mouth!” “mia khalifa’s sex tape” Y/n laughed proud of the reference he made, he helped clean his hair from the snow. And shockingly enough they were already at the wishing stall

Both boys were greeted by the stall worker “and how about you two? Care to give a wish stick a try?” Y/n smiled before pulling out 2 dollars “oh no need for cash, it’s free for couples” She smiled

Both boys looked at her with a blush, but played in for free wishes. The lady shook the box before presenting it to the boys “first think about your wish, then pick out one popsicle stick”

Both of the boys glances at each other before picking out a stick

[your embodied love, they aren’t far from your reach. Maybe they’re in plain sight]

Y/n hummed to himself with a smile

[everything you love, will be there for you. It will never find itself away from you]

Morty’s eyes clicked realizing something before looking at Y/n

“now, kiss the popsicle and burn the tip. It’s a sign of promise that whatever your wish was will come true”

Both boys kissed the popsicle and burnt the tip on the red candle.

“now keep that popsicle and never show anyone, you can only reveal it once it’s been granted to you” she smiled before the two boys thanked her and walked away

“i already got mine granted” “same here” “so what’s yours?” morty looked away before showing his popsicle stick Y/n “aww that’s so sweet! Mine’s cute” Y/n showed him his popsicle

Morty smiled at it “yeah, c’mon let’s go eat”

///

“morty try these crepes!! They’re really good!” Y/n offered some of his crepes to morty, morty took a bite off it before humming “it’s actually pretty good, want to try this shawarma?”

Y/n nodded before morty offered some as Y/n bit into it, “oh, it’s spicy” Y/n’s taste buds shifted from sweet to spicy “yeah, i just wanted to try some since they’re about to be out” both boys walked by each other before

Morty’s ears perked up and heared something, stopping and looking around Y/n stopped with him, confused. “you ‘aight?” “wait..” morty handed over his shawarma before shoveling his hands throught he snow

Y/n peeked to see morty holding a small dog “w-what!? Holy shit morty!? Is it still breathing, we need to get it near warm fire or something!??” Y/n panicked before morty took off his orange scarf and covered the dog for warmth

“c’mon let’s go to my parents there might be a warm fire around” Y/n followed morty before taking a sneaky small bite into his shawarma

“morty! Dear god where did you get a dog??!” jerry looked at morty in shock, they were sitting at a table Y/n placed their food down “let’s go to that stall they have barbecue maybe we can stand near it for heat!” Y/n pointed out before morty and Y/n quickly rushed over

Standing near the barbecue Y/n apologized for having the dog near the food but the one who ran the stall understood and allowed them to use the heat, even once the food cooked they placed it else where just so that morty can help the dog get warm

“who would leave a dog out here like that??” morty checked that it’s fur was quite dirty, probably a stray. morty slowly patted the dog to try pumping it’s blood flow, Y/n scratched the dogs ear

“poor little guy...” “he probably was abandoned, the snow unfortunately came around these times so he had to survive on his own” morty frowned Beth and jerry came over “okay boy’s let’s go home, Summer’s heading over to her friends house for a sleepover. And then maybe we’d find a way to take care of the poor dog. Where did you guys even find it?”

Beth passed their food to Y/n “we were walking after getting food and morty probably heared a whine under the snow” Y/n looked at morty holding the dog “yeah were going back home, now that morty can’t use his scarf he’s definetly going to catch a cold and the dog needs warmth and probably food”

“so you’re gonna keep the dog?” “of course i will!” “it’s funny, didn’t we talk about dogs this morning? It’s like some christmas miracle you just got him” Y/n held beth’s hair blower and had it to low heat

The dog was conscious but very weak, morty still kept it laying on his scarf a small plastic bowl with left over food from yesterday “what are you gonna name him? It’s a boy right?” morty nodded

“hmm, snuffles.” “you’ve got to be kidding me” “what? It’s the best i can come up with! And he also has nice fur!” morty patted the dogs belly “you could’ve gone with snow balls, his fur is white as snow. And either way he even looks like a snow ball when he curls up to sleep!”

Y/n explained before morty gave in “ok fine, snowballs...” the dog looked around before sniffing the bowl. Y/n brought it closer to it before it started eating slowly. Y/n sighed and leaned near morty since the heater was closer to him

Morty looked at Y/n with a smile before cupping his face to kiss him

“merry christmas Y/n”

A smirked laid upon Y/n face looking at morty

“merry christmas morty”

Note: ... I still wonder how i still written them as friends during this. It’s called a psuedo relationship, situationship is more sexual and negative i think? which is not what im looking for. So a psuedo fit’s more better since it’s more on acting like a commited relationship even though both never really talked about it. And i thought about homoerottic relationship but google lables it to be more of a sexual desire thing too which i don’t think is what im trying to find so idk how to lable these two.

BUT ANYWAYS they’re friends with benefits i think? Google went and said “people who fear to really confess to each other” but i don’t think that’s the case between those two, they’re more like. Like. Losers that doesn’t know what to when it comes to love so they just literally “go with the flow”

ANYWAYS AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE.

I will post the actual full fanfic instead of making one shots like these about them without much context and ig ‘canon’ plot explained so probably around january i’ll be posting it

[thekingofthenameless]

More Merlin propaganda for @fat-oc-battle! (Vote for him please please please)

Soooo I actually have some new lore! I am. Retconning things.

Spoilers under the cut! (I’m definitely not scared of people not liking it)

Also this post has more context for some of the things I mention

Anyways, I’ve had Merlin as a cambion (like he actually is in Arthurian Mythology) this whole time. Both for my former fanfiction Emerald Embers, and my current story The King of the Nameless.

And then a few days ago, when I was driving to work and listening to “There Are Other Ways” from Epic the Musical, my brain said: “Make Merlin the God of Magic in TKN?” And it wouldn’t let go, soooo I’m doing it now. (That’s exactly how him being a trans man started too actually lmao.)

He was born a god, to his parents Adhan, Goddess of the Seas, and Gunnar, God of War. I haven’t decided if they’re married, or estranged while still married lol.

He casually lives among mortals, because it’s underrated in my opinion, and I think it would be cool. Same with a god protagonist!

I don’t really have ironed out lore yet, but I was thinking after he and Charlie die the first time, Amara (the Goddess of Life) makes a reference to him being a god as well and he’s like: Huh.

And unlike most protagonists who suddenly have an insane heritage, instead of having a crisis, he immediately thinks it’s awesome.

Even now, the only ones who know are Charlie, Ganieda, and Vivian. (His familiar, sister, and sister-in-law.) He doesn’t tell anyone because he doesn’t want people to worship him. However, at the same time, it would hopefully get people to stop being shitty towards him for being disabled.

He aged more slowly growing up; one physical year = five chronological years, and no one knew why, since his literal twin had magic as well, but she aged normally.

He has weaknesses, of course.

Anti-magic things/magical suppressants actually hurt him much worse than others because he’s being cut off from his domain. For them, all they do is take their magic away until they’re taken off, with no ill effects. For him, his body is weakened to where he’s too exhausted to move, and they trap his magic inside him. And when they’re taken off, that magic comes out.

For other wizards, using a ton of magic at once makes them exhausted: nose bleeding, passing out, the works, but he doesn’t have to deal with that because he’s the god of that domain. (It makes him that much more terrifying to others.)